


Carte Blanche

by SilenceMaker



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, M/M, Minor Bang Chan/Kim Woojin, Minor Character Death, Minor Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Non-Consensual Voyeurism, Slow Burn, but i won't write him anymore in future stories, depictions of blood, hyunjin is angsty and dramatic, hyunjin kinda whores himself around if that bothers you, i thought about removing woojin but then i'd have to change the whole plot, i'm sorry about the warnings, most of them aren't explicit but i thought it would be better to warn nonethless, no porn is explicit i suck at writing smut, only on one scene though, scary i know, seungmin is a bit of a stalker if that bothers you too, so i decided to leave him in, they get involved with minor female characters at some point, this is honestly just a story trying to be smarter than it actually is, yes woojin is in there i needed him for the plot to work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:34:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 53,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25300216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilenceMaker/pseuds/SilenceMaker
Summary: Seungmin and Hyunjin are secret agents whose paths got crossed once. Seungmin liked the alluring but lethal beauty of the other boy. He found he couldn't really let go.
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin
Comments: 54
Kudos: 94





	1. Opening act

**Author's Note:**

> His lips shined with gloss and his eyes glowed with a knowing mirth. Seungmin couldn’t look away.

Colorful lights.

Loud music.

Dry ice mellowing out the silhouettes on the dance floor.

Cheap alcohol.

Blind, deaf, and unfeeling.

Seungmin leaned on the bar counter. His posture was relaxed. He had a cup in one hand and the other was in his pocket. The air smelled of alcohol and fruity juices, sweat mixed with cheap colognes. Seungmin’s eyes ran over the moving crowd in front of him and he brought the glass up for a sip.

 _“Do you see him yet, Sky?” t_ he voice in his in-ear piece asked.

“Three hours,” he answered with the cup covering his lips.

Seungmin winced as if the watered-down vodka burned his throat. A couple of seconds passed.

_“Okay, found him.”_

Seungmin left the relative tranquility of the bar to immerse himself in the crowd. The drink was clutched loosely in his hand, turned slightly to the side so every person he bumped into made a little spill out. Every drop out of the cup was one less drop for him to drink. He made sure only a little spilled in his clothes, only enough for it not to be weird: walking out of a club without smelling of alcohol and smoke was a little suspicious. Seungmin brought it up to his lips, drinking again very little but making a show of bobbing his adam apple.

The target was the owner of Glam Nightclub, Park Junsu.

He borrowed a lot of money in exchange for a hotspot for some gangs to sell their drugs. However, he didn’t honor his part of the deal. Not to mention he also made the same deal with many gangs that didn't have friendly relations with each other, which was just asking for trouble. The club was very popular with the young public and had recently gone through a renovation, so Junsu made sure to get the word out through many news websites and confirmed his presence there for the night.

The mission was to get him as alone as he could and, by any means necessary, get out all information he had about the gangs he owed.The drug business was in an all-time high these past weeks and it was alarming. They needed a lead to cut it down before it grew more. Then, after all was spoken and all was acquired, Seungmin was to dispose of the man. Junsu was a shady guy behind the curtains, not above trampling over people for profit. No biggie in ridding the world of him.

Seungmin was young, at only 20 years old, so he mixed easily in the youth currently partying. He was dressed the way someone would to go party by himself: not too dull nor too showy, just the right amount of eye-catching to openly imply he was there only for a casual hook-up. And his actions didn’t contradict it. Seungmin occasionally stopped weaving through the people to grab onto someone’s hips to dance with them, cup still half full balanced on the side and lips on their ears, whispering sweet nothings and planting kisses on their necks.

His peripheral vision never left Junsu, walking in and out of the VIP rooms and pleasantly responding to people who stopped by to talk to him.

Seungmin danced mildly with some people, grinded into another two, and at some point was sandwiched between a couple, wet and sloppy kisses being left on his lips and the back of his neck. The drink on his hand was almost empty by now, most of it being slowly thrown away while he danced.

Seungmin saw Junsu talking with one of the two security guards on the entrance of the VIP rooms. He gave one last peck to the girl in front of him while he disentangled himself from the couple. They tried to pull Seungmin back by his arms and the waistband of his jeans but he vaguely gestured to the bar and yelled something about getting another drink. They nodded and let him go, on the promise that he came back to them to have some fun.

The last of the drink he had was downed and Seungmin left the cup on the small stage, next to the DJ booth. He slightly bumped into the wall before stopping next to Junsu, a carefree smile on his sweet face. Junsu raised an eyebrow but didn’t seem surprised.

“Having fun?”

“Yes, the dance floor is a lot more spacious now, it’s really nice!” Seungmin’s voice was loud to be heard over the deafening electronic music and he spoke a bit slower than usual.

Seungmin swayed a little when he caught Junsu’s arm in a loose grip.

“You’ve been in there the whole night, let’s drink something.”

“I have some booze inside already.”

Albeit his words indicated a rejection, Seungmin didn’t miss the way his gaze dropped to his exposed collarbones. _Ah, so he’s that kind of guy._

Seungmin’s hands pulled him closer.

“Come on.” Seungmin gave him a small pout. “Just one drink.”

Junsu allowed Seungmin to drag him to the bar. _One… Two… Three guards watching this side._

Junsu ordered a shot of something Seungmin didn’t hear and he asked for a cup of whatever he thought of first. Seungmin made small, childish talk of someone looking for a sugar daddy while they waited for the bartender to come back.

“You must have put a lot of effort into this club.”

“I find hard-working men so attractive.”

“I would give _anything_ to have a little taste of your success.”

Their drinks arrived and before they turned to get them, the voice on his in-ear sounded again.

_“There’s a commotion near the bathroom.”_

“Oh, what is happening?” Seungmin frowned in the direction of the bathroom, where indeed a small crowd formed.

The seconds where Junsu turned to see what he was talking about were enough for Seungmin to discreetly tap a powder from inside his ring jewel to the cup Junsu was going to drink from. Almost immediately the thin powder dissolved in the bright blue liquid.

It was a secret operation trying to shut down the drug trade of some big shot gangs in Seoul. Didn't mean they didn’t make use of some themselves. It was an odorless, tasteless powder that quickly got the person high and horny. After about one hour they lost conscience and then it was a clean path. The kill would look like it was done by someone he owed money to or anything like that, which hopefully would cause a commotion among the gangs that could also help in identifying them.

Junsu turned back and was met with Seungmin’s dumbed down grin. He smirked back, drinking the shot glass in one go. Seungmin also drank from his cup, letting some spill down his chin to his neck. Seungmin felt the cold liquid dripping down his chin and the hot gaze appraising him.

He had to keep the man focused.

In fifteen minutes Junsu had a hand down Seungmin’s ass and Seungmin already got everything he needed from the man, thanks to his perfected sweet-talk. Now he just needed to take him back to VIP, wait for him to pass out, and then kill him silently. Seungmin was about to suggest they head somewhere more private when a blur of red blocked his sight and his nose was invaded by a strong smell of perfume. He took a moment to realize that someone else interrupted him and had Junsu’s attention instead.

 _“Sky, bad news, I just lost access to the security cameras,”_ Seungmin heard in his in-ear. _“I’m trying to get them back up.”_

Not reacting outwardly to the sudden information, Seungmin tried to look at the other boy’s face but the dark hair was in the way. He only saw a lean neck and bony collarbones exposed by the loose red shirt.

The stranger had a hand tipping up Junsu’s head by the chin, apparently locking eyes with him. The boy didn’t say anything, instead lightly trailing a hand down Junsu’s chest and turning to walk away, unmistakably in the direction of the VIP rooms.

Before Junsu went after him though, he turned back to Seungmin, his pupils already more than dilated. Seungmin wondered how much of it was because of the drug and how much was because of the boy.

“Finish your drink, it’s on me, and meet us back there,” he whispered wetly on Seungmin’s ear, hand running over his waist one last time.

Seungmin saw a split second where the boy paused before disappearing in the crowd. It was very quick, almost unnoticeable to the untrained eyes, but it put him on guard. Seungmin made to immediately follow the two of them but another person stopped him, throwing his weight to push Seungmin into the bar.

“Hey handsome, let’s dance a little,” a surprisingly deep voice came from the small-framed boy clinging to his shirt.

Seungmin glanced at the new boy’s face. He was cute, huge eyes, and a slim body, grey hair framing his face. But Seungmin had other urgent things to focus on. With a swift movement, he turned their bodies around and pressed the boy to the same place he was before. He quickly kissed him on the lips, effectively disorienting him for a moment, long enough to escape the grasp on his clothes and go after Junsu and the boy in red.

No longer trying so hard to look inebriated, he quickly passed through the crowd, eyes fixed on the VIP door. He frowned slightly.

“Bob, where are the guards?” Seungmin said, barely moving his lips.

_“I still haven’t managed to get the cameras back up. Last time I saw they were still standing by the door. Sorry, Sky, seems like you’re on your own now.”_

Seungmin tsked, less than pleased by the turn of events. If that boy in red got in the way or saw anything out of the ordinary happening with Junsu, Seungmin would have to dispose of him too. And he always did his best to avoid unnecessary deaths in an operation. His mind ran with ways to proceed in the actual situation, all the while taking note of all the belongings he had on him and where they were, in case he needed any of them.

Seungmin reached the VIP door, ignoring the empty spaces where the three guards should be. He entered. The corridor took a sharp turn to the left and then he was faced with five doors on the side, all closed and identical. After a brief moment of pondering, he chose the first one. Locked.

Bingo.

He fished out of his jacket’s inner pocket a small master key, courtesy of his boss, and unlocked the door.

Junsu was lying down on the big leather sofa to the wall, unmoving. Seungmin was on high alert. Junsu wasn’t supposed to lose consciousness for another forty minutes. He closed the door behind him. Seungmin turned his gaze to the boy in red, who was leaning over Junsu and was covering most of the sight. His shoulder blades were visible through the sheer blouse and they shifted when the boy rose back up.

Seungmin did a small double-take on the boy’s face. He was almost unreal, with his very plush, reddened lips and his glowy cheekbones.

They locked gazes. There were black satin gloves covering the boy’s hands that he was sure weren’t there before. Seungmin briefly glanced at the red spilling from Junsu’s neck and the sharp knife on his limp left hand before looking back up.

The pretty boy in red seemed to be looking for something in Seungmin’s eyes. He probably found it by the way his face broke into the most charming and wicked grin Seungmin had ever seen in his life.

The boy kept silent as he calmly walked towards Seungmin. He had a slight sway to his hips, which was hard to tear the eyes away from. He stopped right in front of Seungmin, eyes never leaving his. They stared for a couple more seconds, the same cocky quirk playing on the boy’s full and inviting lips. His eyes crinkled a little on the sides. Seungmin properly identified the scent of the perfume the boy was wearing now: roses and jasmine. A common smell for people looking to allure.

Seungmin silently stepped to the side. The boy’s smile widened a little in appreciation. He turned the handle with his gloved hand and walked out, closing the door behind him. Seungmin was left alone with a bloody corpse and a thousand questions, the dulled out music from the outside thundering in his ears.

* * *

Seungmin finished updating Jeongin through the in-ear and said he didn’t feel like going back to the HQ to fill in the report yet. Jeongin started scolding him about how he would get an earful from their boss and Seungmin shut down the communication.

After heading out of Glam Nightclub, Seungmin stopped at a bar. It was the only place still open this late at night. It was busy, all the tables filled and the air full of chatter. He quietly and quickly entered the bathroom. In the last stall where they kept the cleaning supplies, he took a trash bag hidden at the corner. Inside were an unassuming pair of jeans, a hoodie, and a grey satchel.

He quickly changed into the new clothes and put the ones he was wearing beforehand in the satchel. Before heading out again he pulled the hoodie up his head to cover possible any alcohol smell that may have stuck to his hair.

The ride home was uneventful. Inside the cab he turned on his phone again, ignoring the messages Jeongin kept sending him. Seungmin tried to focus on his Candy Crush and the mint gum he was chewing on, but he couldn’t take his mind off Pretty Boy In Red. It was the weirdest encounter he ever had in an operation, and he’s been working for almost two years already in the field. He’s seen many things, but it was the first time someone interrupted a mission in such a way.

Seungmin is intrigued, to say the least.

Of course, there wasn’t only Pretty Boy In Red, there was also Cute Grey Haired Boy. The encounter was too well-timed to be an accident. And it was safe to assume there was at least one more person in the play if the missing guards were anything to go by.

Seungmin momentarily focused back on his phone when the “try again” screen popped up.

For now, this new random group didn’t seem to be a threat.

They were also agents or hitmen, that much was obvious, and for whatever reason, they had the same target as him. But none of them made any move to hurt him or anyone else around. Wouldn’t be too far-fetched to say they might have even waited for him to finish whatever important business he had with Junsu before going in for the kill. It would be very nice of them if it turned out to be the case.

So, for now, they weren’t enemies. Just mysteries.

The cab stopped, Seungmin paid the driver, thanked him, and got out. He fiddled on his phone a little more while waiting for the car to drive away.

_2:32 AM._

When the street was quiet again, Seungmin started walking the rest of the way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyy so. I have the whole story pretty much written out, I just need to fix some stuff. Please leave some feedback! It's the first time I'm posting a multi-chaptered fic. I'll do my best to update every Thursday but we'll see.


	2. Inquiry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Younger Seungmin was a little more wide eyed, a little more easily intimidated, tried a little harder to please. Younger Seungmin was a little kinder. Younger Seungmin was a little more everything current Seungmin discarded in himself.

Seungmin used to live in a very small town near the countryside with his parents up until high school. His parents are still alive, thank you very much; still living on the same house and same neighborhood they always have. Seungmin only moved out when he was accepted in some art-oriented course in a big university in Seoul. He wanted to major in photography and eventually start his career in the big city.

His plans changed a little when he became friends with Bang Chan.

Seungmin wasn’t really sure what Chan was majoring in, to be honest. He was the first person to speak to him. It happened on the first day, at the cafeteria when Seungmin was looking around for where to place his used cutlery. Afterward Chan just kinda stuck around, helping him around the schedules and directing him to where everything was on campus. He was very easy to befriend.

The statement became even more true when Seungmin realized Chan was friends with literally everyone, no matter what course they were in. They couldn’t walk ten steps before Chan greeted someone. Seungmin was a little touched when he realized that even though he knew so many people, Chan still decided to take Seungmin under his wing. And Chan was also really busy. His schedule was crazy and didn’t make the slightest sense.

Which brings us back to Seungmin not knowing what was Chan’s major. That was because Chan took classes in almost all fields and he was unbelievably good at all of them. He could talk with an Engineering and an English major and have a deep discussion with either of them.

There was also the fact that Chan seemed to be everywhere, every time.

He had classes with the History nerds at one side of the campus and literally the next period he was playing soccer with the P.E. jocks at the courtyard on the opposite side. Seungmin also had no idea what semester he was in because everyone seemed to know him since forever. He could be there for two or ten years and Seungmin would be none the wiser.

It made Seungmin think he was going insane at the beginning, it just didn't make sense. Chan didn't make sense. Maybe there were five Chans running around and everyone just collectively assumed they were only one person.

Seungmin tried asking. Chan was good at dodging questions. He seemed to be having fun every time.

He also tried coming up with theories but eventually, it began to tire him out.

With time Seungmin just accepted him as being a very active person and left it at that. He had more things to do.

* * *

Like always, Chan was there to greet him good morning when he crossed the gates and kept him company till the bell rang, even though his first classes on Monday were a good ten-minute walk from the entrance.

Seungmin tuned out Chan’s voice when he started talking about his weekend, answering with hums and well placed ‘nice’s and ‘why’s that’s. He didn’t really care.

Chan’s presence wasn’t unpleasant at all but it didn’t change the fact that it was a mere convenience. He was convenient when he showed Seungmin around on freshman year, he was convenient when he sneaked in some snacks for Seungmin to nibble on while he studied at the library, he was convenient when he filled the static morning air with bright chattery.

Seungmin didn’t keep around inconvenient people. It would be just plainly counterproductive.

The only actual disturbance Chan caused in his life was when he introduced Seungmin to Woojin.

Seungmin had been eight months into his university life, freshly turned 18, when Chan one morning suddenly fixed him with a very serious look and grew quiet. It made Seungmin nervous. He hadn’t, until that point, seen Chan serious ever. He was always chill, always doing his best to lighten tense talks and make people smile. So, coming from such a high spirited guy, a heavy look like that seemed to weight ten times more.

Chan didn’t say anything so Seungmin didn’t either but he also couldn’t seem to drop the staring match between them. After some time, Chan sucked in a small breath to start talking and Seungmin tensed.

“What kind of job do you think of doing in the future, Minnie?”

Seungmin was so confused. Why did that warrant such a heavy atmosphere? Chan’s gaze didn’t waver. Seungmin’s on the other hand, did.

“Ah, hyung…” Seungmin’s voice was as soft as always but also as tense as his body felt. “I haven’t changed my mind yet. I still think of opening a photography studio somewhere here in Seoul.”

The way Chan didn’t smile like he always did made Seungmin wonder for a moment if he said the wrong thing. Chan spoke before the thought could fully form in his head.

“Don’t you think that’s a little… bland for you?”

Seungmin frowned and Chan sighed. The older man suddenly seemed all the bit tired as he had the right to be, dark circles sinking under his eyes and slightly dropped posture. He also seemed to be much older and much more mature than the Bang Chan that Seungmin had been friends with for the past months.

“I mean, Minnie, we’ve been having talks about your future ever since your first semester. That’s what seniors are supposed to do, right? Guide their juniors in good directions and give tips about life and all that. But you always talk about your plans with such lack of enthusiasm that it makes me wonder if that’s what you really want.”

Seungmin didn’t know how to answer.

_Ah, that's dangerous._

“I guess so?” Seungmin tried. “I mean, that’s something I’m good at. It will pay my bills and make my parents proud. It’s a realistic goal. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

Chan grew quiet. Seungmin closed his mouth. He felt like Chan’s dark eyes were analyzing every bit of his soul and he didn’t know if he was comfortable feeling so exposed.

“You hate it, don’t you?”

The sentence, spoken so honestly and so directly, pierced through Seungmin and made something falter inside of him.

_It’s cracking._

“You hate this kind of life.” Chan’s voice was steady. “You hate the monotonous, dull countryside life. You hate that you have to live such an unstimulating routine for the rest of your life and that you’re expected to enjoy it. You hate that you have to live to repay someone else instead of building for yourself.”

“Hyung, _hate_ is a little strong…”

“Don’t you?”

The air was stale around them.

_It’s crumbling._

“Everyone is so intent on appearances, on safety,” Seungmin finally spoke after what seemed like forever. His gaze dropped to his knees and stayed there. “I don’t like it.”

“You hate it.”

A beat.

“I do. I hate it.”

_My mask is crumbling._

There was nowhere else to hide.

Finally, Chan smiled. It was the same smile as always but now Seungmin saw an edge there. Maybe it had always been there and he just never acknowledged it.

Chan was a man of many layers.

And as dull of a person Seungmin tried to sell himself as, he too was. And Chan didn’t let him get away with it.

Chan casually threw an arm around Seungmin’s shoulders.

Seungmin still felt safe with him. He felt himself relax.

“I think you should meet a friend of mine.”

* * *

Woojin was a very warm man but their beginning was rocky, to say the least. They first met later on that same day. After lunch, Chan invited Seungmin to hang out at his house.

Chan didn’t really have free time to hang out. Seungmin didn't mind.

Chan said something about his roommate being out for the week as they got some snacks in the kitchen.

Seungmin has never met this roommate despite going there every other week to lounge and study (Chan left the key in the mailbox downstairs). Sometimes Seungmin wondered if he actually existed, even if the belongings in the room across from Chan’s said he was very real and living.

They got comfortable on the sofa, Seungmin already munching his way into a sack of Doritos and Chan found some superhero movie on the television. Halfway into it, the doorbell rang. Chan ignored the questioning glance Seungmin threw at him and rushed to open the door. Seungmin was annoyed by the sudden new company, still feeling too raw from the strange conversation they had earlier but didn't voice his complaints.

The man at the door was maybe as tall as he himself was, judging by how he looked next to Chan. He was broad-shouldered and strong-jawed. He intimidated Seungmin a little, especially when he looked straight into Seungmin’s eyes as soon as he walked in.

“That’s the one you were talking about?” he asked while taking off his shoes.

Chan hummed and sat back down by Seungmin.

“Don’t be shy, introduce yourself.” Chan smiled supportively at Seungmin.

“Huh… Hi, I’m Kim Seungmin.”

The man looked at him with a frown.

“It’s a kid.”

“Woojinnie, don’t be like that,” Chan huffed with a roll of his eyes. “You were even younger when you started.”

“No, Chan, I’m serious, I think I even heard a voice crack in there. Is he even out of puberty yet?”

“My voice didn’t crack,” Seungmin protested insulted.

“He’s in college, he’s not that young. He’s okay.”

“You’re sending a kid to be killed off.”

“What the fuck?”

“Language, Minnie.”

“You heard that, he doesn’t wanna die. Take him back to his parents, please.”

“Stop being so prude, oh my God. You’re so dramatic sometimes, I swear.”

Woojin, as Seungmin learned his name, looked very tired. His intimidating first impression didn’t last very long, only about two minutes. Now Seungmin noticed how soft his features looked under the warm light. Woojin looked like he would enjoy a hug right now.

“What are you guys even talking about? Why do you want me dead?” Seungmin looked incredulously at Chan.

Woojin sighed.

“You didn’t even explain anything to him. I can’t believe you.”

“Hey, just calm down, okay?” Chan’s tone made Woojin look back at him. “I never do things without thinking them through. Trust me on this.”

Seungmin wondered for how long they knew each other for that to be enough for Woojin to sigh again and sit in front of them. Chan looked very pleased.

“Kim Seungmin, right?”

Seungmin nodded.

“How would you feel about becoming part of a secret intelligence agency?”

* * *

Seungmin said he needed some time to think about the proposal, after all was explained to him. It was a lot to take in: secret identities, secret missions, training to kill. All that, especially the last one, made him hesitant. But as the days passed and his talk with Chan got further ingrained into his mind, it stopped seeming like such a crazy idea. Wasn’t that what he always wanted? Something new, something exciting?

Seungmin never really cared about himself living or dying, or other people living or dying for that matter. If he was going to die, it could at least be doing something cool.

With this in mind, he called Chan at 3 AM on a Tuesday. Expectedly, Chan was still awake.

* * *

Now, two years later, Seungmin didn’t regret that decision one bit. He turned out to be a very fast learner, and as he slowly slipped out of the shell he spent his whole life building and shielding himself with, he found he was much more calculist than he thought. Whatever was the cause for that, it was very welcomed as it helped him remain calm and react in reason to whatever situation appeared for him to solve.

And he also didn’t mind pulling the trigger on a few heads.

Being a secret agent also meant he had _a lot_ more work than he did previously. He fractioned his classes throughout the semesters at university, which pushed his graduation three years later than it was expected at the beginning. Eventually, he would probably have to delay it even more.

Now he understood why Chan seemed to be there since forever. It’s because he probably was.

Chan didn’t work at The Agency, though. Seungmin liked to describe him as a loose end that couldn’t be cut off. Chan had many connections at university but he had many more on the underworld.

The _secret_ part of “secret intelligence” was very secret. It was stuff you couldn’t just stumble across even on a throughout dive to the deep web. And somehow Chan, technically an outsider, knew about it all. He was a living database for whatever reason he decided to become one and so he was very busy, aside from everything he did at university. Busy being the bridge for all kinds of organizations and people even remotely connected with the legally illegal part of the modern world, and also busy trying not to be murdered on the daily. Apparently he was very precious and very influential, and that made many people want him dead.

Seungmin now understood that if he didn’t accept the invitation to join, he would have been killed off very quickly. Although he doubts Chan would have made the proposal had he thought there was a chance Seungmin wouldn’t agree.

Extra work also included filling in reports for the operations he completed, which was the boring part of the job.

After the Glam Nightclub mission, Seungmin headed straight to the HQ after his classes were over to do just that and get it over with. The HQ was located, just like everything that’s supposed to remain forever a secret, in a very visible but unassuming place.

It was a building in downtown. Another old building next to a dozen other old buildings bricked almost the same color, which had this small electronics store in front and this other small gift shop on the side. To get in, you entered through a door between them. Walking up, you could either go right or left. Right would take you to another flight of stairs to the residential part of the building, left would take you to a laundry that washed all the linens and towels from this neighbor hotel. Right on the back of the laundry, there are two doors: one for a bathroom and the other to a corridor which then leads to the HQ.

Now, thing is, the people that work on the electronics and the gifts shop are from The Agency. All the people living on the residential building, including the cleaning ladies? Also from The Agency. The staff at the laundry? From The Agency. Even the neighbor hotel? From The Agency as well.

Everything was well wrapped up in this complex web of covers that it was almost like a very high and very solid wall.

Seungmin loved to be a part of that.

He stepped out of the bus just across the street from the HQ and unhurriedly made his way in.

There were many security levels you had to go through to get in: from the number code at the first door, to the fingerprint scanner on the laundry door, then the second fingerprint scanner on the door handle to the corridor, and finally the eye and voice recognition at the final door, which also had to be approved by someone inside so _then_ you could be granted entrance. And everything was always monitored by hidden security cameras all around. It was a lot of work, really, but it was necessary.

Once finally in, the first thing Seungmin saw was Dahyun, whose work was taking care of all those security measures he just went through. He greeted her politely, which she replied with a smile and a nod.

Walking past her were rows of people doing very important but boring work. On the last desks were located the four computers they had, apart from those assigned for the important but boring work.

One of them was this humongous beast that Jeongin fondly referred to as his child and that he was stationed at for almost the whole day, everyday. The other right in front was what Jeongin’s machine originally looked like, which was a very capable, compact, high-performance computer for heavy work. The other two were regular computers for general use, like filling in reports and playing online billiards.

Seungmin sat next to Jeongin, who was drowned out behind the three screens on his desk and blasting some bubbly pop music on his headphones. Not wanting to disturb his work, Seungmin opened a blank docs file to start typing. After a little more than ten minutes, Jeongin spoke.

“Hyung, have you finished your report yet?”

“That’s what I’m trying to do if you don’t interrupt me.”

“Don’t be mean. I had to listen to Woojin hyung whining all morning about how no one does anything as they should. Nayeon noona sent another report in baby blue cursive letter and Jackson hyung didn’t send any. Actually no one in the Got7 team bothered to send anything. They finished their mission and disappeared somewhere in the Maldives, probably for a self-given vacation.”

Seungmin snorted.

“Got7 is one of the best teams I’ve seen but they don’t give a shit about anything.”

“Language,” Seungmin deadpanned.

“Not you too. Changbin hyung was being really annoying about it. Now he’s undercover in China so he can't nag at me. But really, what right does he have? He swears in every sentence he says.”

“Now you’re the one whining.” Seungmin stopped typing to give Jeongin a teasing smile.

Jeongin started complaining louder and Seungmin laughed.

* * *

Jeongin was only a year younger than him and he was brought in eight months after himself. On that week, Woojin looked remarkably stressed out.

Woojin was the one in charge of The Agency ever since JYP (the actual president) just vanished after a big mission gone wrong almost five years before. That meant he was always a little pissed but that week he was extra stressed. Woojin even yelled at Sana for some mistake on a mission.

Woojin never yelled at anyone.

It left her looking very hurt and him looking immediately very guilty. Seungmin had to watch him try to apologize the entire day while Jihyo tried to fight him.

After that, he mostly kept to himself for a few days, although Seungmin managed to listen in to him asking Chaeryeong to update some specific information on the system that he didn't catch on. However, Seungmin couldn’t get anything out of her and had to wait to find out what had been worrying Woojin so much.

When Seungmin saw tiny Jeongin with braces on his teeth being led in by a smiling, motherly Jeongyeon, he understood.

Woojin didn’t want to put another child in The Agency but Chan forced him to. Nothing new then.

There started the trajectory of the most efficient hacker The Agency ever had.

Little Jeongin, former child genius with infinite potential that somehow managed to grab Chan’s attention from the small apartment his family lived in Busan. He was shy at first but eventually proved himself to be strong-spirited, and he had the occasional mean streak which almost caused him to lose cafeteria privileges more than once.

Jeongin, with his light-hearted innocence and energy, was the freshness Seungmin needed to lighten up his workplace a little. Seungmin kept him around a bit closer than he did the others but refused contact outside of work, even if he had to ignore the way Jeongin looked disappointed whenever he turned down yet another invitation to go eat out.

Seungmin didn’t like people when he couldn’t keep them inside his limits.

* * *

Seungmin quickly wrapped up the report and sent it to Woojin, hoping he would be pleased about him replacing all dots and commas with emojis. He turned to Jeongin to find the boy already looking at him, headphones resting on the side, and a concerned frown between his eyebrows.

“Hyung, what happened yesterday? Who were those people you bumped into? Have you seen them before?”

_Red sheer blouse and plush lips._

“I don’t know who they were.”

Jeongin pouted.

“You have a good memory for faces,” he said. “I hoped maybe you could remember those guys from somewhere.”

_Long fingers and smooth skin._

“Nah, and I take it you already looked into the details I gave you yesterday?”

“Yeah, found nothing. Clothes or hair color aren’t really useful leads to look around with if they know what they’re doing, which they clearly do. I _did_ find them in whatever footage remained from the security cameras but it was dark and the image quality is shit. We have pretty much nothing to work with.”

“They seem to be a piece of work.”

Jeongin hummed.

Seungmin turned away just in time to see Woojin through the glass window in his office, frowning in front of his computer. He probably just opened Seungmin’s report. Seungmin laughed quietly, patiently waiting for the nagging that was sure to come.

* * *

On Fridays, Seungmin’s classes started a little later. He always woke up significantly happier on Fridays because he could afford to sleep a little more. Seungmin calmly went on with his routine and walked out of his apartment, feeling the slightly cold breeze messing his hair. He liked this kind of weather.

On the way from his house to the campus was Miroh Cafe: the one Seungmin always stopped at for breakfast. They had great pastries and their chocolate croissant was to die for.

This particular Friday he probably moved slower than usual, though, so he wouldn’t have time to eat anything. Just a coffee would do.

As soon as Seungmin walked in, his eyes zeroed in a particular face near the side window. His breath got caught in his throat.

There he was, Pretty Boy In Red, bathed in pale sunlight, nibbling on bread.

The woman across from him laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was a day late but it wasn't so much so it's okay I guess.  
> I'll try to update faster next chapter! Thank you for reading.


	3. Kosher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was barbed wire seamed on the edges of his eyes. Guarded, sharp. Seungmin wanted to know more.

Seungmin’s mind was on overdrive but his body automatically walked him to the counter.

It was dangerous for Pretty Boy In Red to be there. Miroh Cafe was near almost all the places Seungmin frequented, including his house. Could it be that he found out who he was? Where he lived? Would he try to ask him questions? Kill him?

He looked at the time.

If he grabbed the coffee and headed straight to class, he would arrive there with maybe two minutes to spare.

“What would you like today?” the young girl behind the counter asked.

“A medium coffee, black. And a sweet bun.”

“Eat here or to go?”

“Eat here.”

Was Pretty Boy In Red there on a mission? If he was, then his teammates were probably around as well. Would any of them recognize him? Seungmin couldn’t risk being followed anywhere.

He smiled at the staff when he was handed his food and sat down on the other side, behind some plants by the wall.

Seungmin glanced at Pretty Boy In Red as he added sugar to his coffee.

Maybe he should stop calling him that in his head, he wasn't wearing red anymore. Actually, he seemed like a completely different person from last week.

Gone was the makeup loaded with deep reds and browns, gone was the gaze filled with second intentions and the maddening grin dripping with liquid promises. If Seungmin hadn’t ingrained those lips and eyes so deep into his memory, so intent on remembering them before going to sleep, he probably wouldn’t even be able to tell it was him.

Jeongin _did_ say he was good at remembering faces.

Pretty Boy, now Pretty Boy In Blue, was wearing a beret and a sweater. He looked soft, innocent. His smile was blinding. His movements were gentle.

Seungmin saw the sharp edge on the deep of his dark eyes.

Seungmin drank his coffee and visibly scowled when it burned his tongue. His mood for the day dropped by at least ten points.

Then his gaze turned to the woman in front of Pretty Boy In Blue. She was visibly older than him, dressed modestly but the golden shine on her earlobes and the tip of her Chanel wallet slipping out of her pocket didn’t fool Seungmin.

That woman was filthy rich. And she touched Pretty Boy’s hand with the tip of her fingers, her lips curled needle-pointed.

She liked the purity. She wanted to taint it.

He looked oblivious.

Seungmin sat there for 42 minutes, looking engrossed in his phone. His bun had long been eaten and the last sip of his coffee had gone cold. He was able to get to some conclusions.

First, the most obvious one: Pretty Boy was there on a mission and the woman was his target. Not surprising.

Second, she was married and was cheating on her husband. He saw that in the pale line on her finger where the wedding ring should be, along with the fact that it would be hard for a woman like her to just enjoy hanging out on a students neighborhood.

Third, her husband either owned some big business or worked in a high position for a heavy-profit company; either way, it meant he had to travel a lot because of work. That would explain her designer heels and wallet, and her presence there at 9 AM without raising suspicions (unemployed and alone at home, that is).

So her husband had probably wronged someone along the way. Pretty Boy has to get something out of her to get to him. But nothing was gonna happen today.

Playing the innocent and pure card is a hassle. Seungmin would know that. He often got thrown these identities and it was annoying as hell. The game moves too slowly, everything takes ages to be accomplished. By the way Pretty Boy didn’t even meet the woman’s eyes, instead bashfully looking down at his plate, he hasn’t been pulling her in for long enough.

Suddenly they raised from their seats, going towards the cashier. There were two people in line already. Seungmin waited for another small girl to get in line behind the couple before he also stood up.

“You know,” Seungmin heard the woman talking. “I see something different in you. Different from other boys.”

“You don’t need to flatter me, noona. It’s okay.”

Seungmin needed a second to realize that was the boy speaking. It was the first time he was hearing his voice and it didn’t surprise him much. It fit perfectly the character he was playing: throaty, unstable, small.

The woman’s smile widened and she slapped his shoulder. He flinched.

“I’m not trying to _flatter_ you. It’s true.”

The boy gave a self-deprecating laugh.

“I know I’m very lacking but I’ll do my best to make you happy.”

“You already do, silly.”

She pinched the tip of his nose and raised on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

Nothing out of the ordinary. Predator and prey.

Seungmin mentally approved of the nervous tick he saw on the Pretty Boy’s leg.

Pretty Boy pulled his wallet when it was their turn to pay but she was faster in handing the staff her black credit card. He smiled self-consciously and was about to put his wallet back in his pocket when the woman squealed.

“My gosh, how young were you in this picture?”

She pulled the worn-out wallet from his hands and opened to see his ID card. Seungmin noticed a quick tightening of Pretty Boy’s jaw before he took it back from her. _Oh, he’s pissed off._

“I’m not sure, about five?” he muttered.

“So cute! I bet your kids will be really cute as well.”

The only response she got was a very awkward chuckle.

Seungmin raised an eyebrow. That was interesting.

The slight displeased crease under Pretty Boy’s eyes and the dry end of his little laugh was probably the first genuine reaction he’s seen from him the whole time he’s been watching them. The little bubble of thought was soon dispersed when the boy looked back at her with meek eyes.

Seungmin turned the opposite way to hide his face when the two turned to leave. He pretended to look for something in his backpack as they walked by and only got a wisp of the boy’s smell before it was gone. It was the kind of cologne boys buy to feel grown-up. Strong enough to startle, not enough maturity to be musky and not enough sweetness to be childish.

He absent-mindedly wondered what Pretty Boy actually smelled like under all those perfumes.

* * *

Seungmin waited patiently, folding and unfolding the hem of his shirt. Jeongin huffed in frustration.

“Are you sure his name is Lee Jaehwan?”

“Yup. I mean, it was a fake name for sure but that’s what I saw.”

He was answered with silence. Seungmin spun the chair he was sitting on to the sound of Jeongin’s furious typing. After a few more minutes, after Seungmin got bored of spinning and started leveling the chair up and down, Jeongin groaned and hit his head on the table. Seungmin startled.

“I don’t understand.”

“Found nothing?”

“Do I look happy?”

“You look like you just saw the last cotton candy being taken away.”

Jeongin chuckled irritatedly.

“That sums up how I’m feeling right now.”

Seungmin kept quiet and waited for Jeongin to speak again. And sure he did.

“I mean, it doesn’t make sense. Fake identities are _always_ cataloged somewhere in agencies’ databases, even temporary ones. Yours are, mine are. I have access to pretty much all data of every agency on Korea, Japan, China, Canada, Britain, and the United States. I tried to match it with that two-pixels face we got on those security cameras, in case it wasn’t an official identity. I even looked around almost all of Europe, Oceania, Africa, _and_ the Latin countries in America. Nothing. Nada. He just doesn’t exist.”

“Maybe you forgot to look somewhere?”

Jeongin kept his posture hunched on the table but turned his head to glare at him. Seungmin threw his hands up.

Seungmin was even more intrigued than before. He’s never seen anyone escape Jeongin’s radar so cleanly before.

“I’m gonna grab a snack,” Jeongin grumbled. “Be right back.”

Seungmin nodded.

_So… does it mean he’s not affiliated anywhere? Or does it mean there are even deeper levels of intelligence than the one we work in? Nah, that’s impossible, Chan would know if that was the case._

Chan.

Seungmin quickly discarded the idea.

Chan was nice and all but asking for his help meant owing him a favor. Seungmin has been avoiding it like the plague for all this time he became an agent, he wouldn't change his ways now.

“Hey, why is Jeongin so angry today? What happened?”

Seungmin turned around at the new voice and was faced with Changbin’s pointed chin and buff arms. He had a weirded out look on his face.

“I didn’t know you were coming back today, hyung,” Seungmin greeted.

“Me neither.” Changbin shrugged, sitting across from him. “Some Chinese SM and YG teams started butting heads, so Woojin hyung decided to bring me back earlier.”

“Did everything go smoothly? Jeongin wouldn't stop complaining about how he wanted to be your computer guy.”

Changbin seemed to forget all about everything else. He visibly beamed and jumped from the chair, running towards the direction he just came from. Seungmin watched as he turned the corridor and disappeared.

“Ooh, my baby Innie was worried about me?” Seungmin heard Changbin cooing in the distance.

“Get off me!” Jeongin’s voice yelled back.

A second.

Changbin squealed loudly.

“You brat-”

Seungmin rolled his eyes. They were always so loud.

* * *

The first meeting between Seungmin and Changbin was by far the worst he ever had.

It was the first time he had been sent abroad, and his mission was to retrieve an agent whose identity had been compromised. He was excited at first but it lasted no more than five minutes. All it took was one look at Woojin’s grave expression and a low quality, zoomed up map of North Korea on a projector.

Jeongin wasn’t around yet at that time, which meant that Seungmin’s only backup was a half-decent computer guy. He couldn’t bring any other help. He couldn’t bring any guns. His only equipment was the in-ear piece disguised as a hearing aid and a small knife on the shape of a pen.

Seungmin was sure he was going to die.

The thought made him company all the way to the airport and continued as he flew to Beijing, and from Beijing to Pyongyang. Woojin managed to put him in the middle of a bunch of Chinese tourists with an ID reading Zhang Wei shoved in his pocket.

Seungmin couldn’t thank his mother enough for forcing him to take Chinese classes during high school.

He had to find a way to sneak out from the group of tourists at some point during their two-week stay and find this Changbin dude. From there, another infiltrated agent would assist in getting them out. Needless to say, it was an almost impossible mission and a very suicidal one right from the start.

Not to mention he still didn’t have information on where the damn agent even was.

Seungmin knew how distressed Woojin was, though, so he didn’t complain.

The Agency didn’t say a single word to him ever since he departed from Seoul. He considered the possibility that the signal couldn’t reach inside North Korea, just like his phone.

There wasn’t much he could do, since no one told him the details of what he should do apart from getting in and getting out. He did his best to act like a very innocent Chinese citizen touristing around North Korea while he waited.

Two days and a half in, he woke up little after 4 AM with Something-Beomseok’s voice talking through his in-ear.

They finally got hold of Changbin’s position and Seungmin had to get moving immediately. He said someone would take him to the place.

Seungmin barely had time to properly get dressed before someone knocked at the door of his hotel room. There were half a dozen men in military uniforms standing outside. They asked him to follow them out.

Seungmin wished they had at least warned him that the only way for him to get in wherever Changbin was being held, apparently, was by being exposed. Not for something grave, but for something just bad enough for them to rough him up and send him somewhere else.

The guard responsible for holding onto him discreetly passed a small key to his hands before shoving him into a room. The place was bare, except for a single desk and chair to the side and four people by the wall. Even behind all the blood and bruises caking his face, Seungmin recognized one of them as Changbin.

Something-Beomseok told him through his in-ear that the security camera was turned off.

Seungmin used the time the guards took to analyze him to made quick work of removing the handcuffs. He used the pen-knife to get rid of the two men closest to him.

He admitted he was a little impressed by how fast Changbin pulled himself up and twisted the neck of the remaining guy, despite his visibly broken arm and severe bruises on the head.

Changbin didn’t pay much attention to his injuries either when ten minutes later the guard who gave him the keys (and who Seungmin already recognized as the other infiltrated agent) opened the door and led them out.

It wasn’t until they were both halfway back to South Korea in a very rocky boat that Changbin finally remembered to introduce himself and thank Seungmin for the help. Changbin passed out right after that.

Seungmin took one last look at him before lying down as well, very much awake. He looked up at the starry sky.

Changbin seemed competent, even with the whole breached identity fiasco. The whole country had such tight security that it wasn’t such a big demerit having that happen.

For now, maybe he would ask Woojin for Changbin if a mission happened to require some sort of team. Seungmin wasn’t sure whether he would allow their contact to become bigger in the future, though. Only time would tell.

* * *

After Changbin went to report back to Woojin about the China mission, Jeongin ran back to his desk and hurriedly started typing.

“I realized I forgot to look somewhere,” was the only thing he said, not even looking at Seungmin.

Seungmin was on his second online billiard game when Jeongin gave a triumphant yell. Seungmin got startled and misclicked, throwing the white ball to the opposite side he wanted to. He frowned.

“I'm so stupid,” Jeongin exclaimed, which attracted a few looks around. “Can’t believe I went looking for him in fucking Kazakhstan before thinking of this.”

“What? Did you find him?”

Seungmin closed the window he had open and leaned into Jeongin's space.

“Is that your guy?”

_Lavish lips and button nose._

“Yeah.” Seungmin's voice sounded too plain for the situation, throat dry. “Yeah, that's him. Where did you find him?”

“You know the only place harder to break security than the MI6?”

Seungmin continued examining the 3x4 picture of Pretty Boy before realizing Jeongin was waiting for his reply.

The only bad point about Jeongin was that he took too long to get to the point.

“Uh, no, I don't.”

“Chan's computer,” Jeongin gleefully whispered.

Seungmin raised his eyebrows.

“Won't you get into trouble for looking into his stuff?”

“Nah, of course not.”

Jeongin looked very relaxed. Seungmin wondered if he had already hacked into Chan's things before.

“He can't get pissed at what he doesn't know.”

Seungmin hummed distractedly. The info displayed for him was lazily punctuated and looked like a random memo.

Hwang Hyunjin. 20 years old. 1,79 cm. Blood type B. Along with the picture, that was obviously some years old already, if the baby fat on his cheeks and awkward smile were anything to go by.

“Why was this in Chan's computer of all places?” Seungmin asked.

“Good question. Maybe they're friends.”

“Maybe.”

Seungmin scrolled down, expecting to see an overview of his previous missions or anything similar but there was nothing else. There was only a small side note reading: _ask him to give back Felix’s beanies_.

* * *

Seungmin still didn't have much to work with. The only difference is that now he knew Pretty Boy’s actual name but all the other things were rather unhelpful. So he decided on another approach: find who was that woman he was meeting with and track her down instead.

With Jeongin's help, they easily found her by taking a look at the credit cards used on Miroh Cafe that morning.

Han Sanghee, born from a middle-class family and graduated in Pharmacy twenty years before but never actually used her diploma for anything. Married young, Sanghee was Yang before she took the surname of her husband: Han Daehyun, who was the owner of a huge paper and stationery brand.

Daehyun recently spent some days in Annecy, France, and was currently out in Nuremberg in Germany for a business meeting. He had plans to go to another five places before returning home and had been away for two weeks now. Every odd month he would travel for long periods, leaving his wife at the mercy of boredom back at their penthouse apartment.

Now, none of that would be unusual if Daehyun actually worked with his company during all the time he spent traveling. It seemed his business expanded to more than expensive pens and coloring pencils.

His name was involved in some serious sex business scandals throughout the years that were swiped under the carpet, no question due to his influence. And Sanghee wasn't all that ignorant either, seeing that her signature could be found on the contracting side of many deals and that her bank account significantly benefited from those arrangements.

Seungmin spent the next days avoiding Woojin while monitoring Sanghee’s movements. Changbin, who had been filled in the situation by Jeongin (much to Seungmin’s dismay), teased him time and time about being obsessed with this Hwang Hyunjin.

“I mean, yeah, he's pretty but what about it?” Changbin said whenever Seungmin started ignoring him, which always made Seungmin ignore him harder.

It wasn't just about him being pretty. There were pretty people all around and Seungmin didn't go to such lengths for any of them.

It's just that Hwang Hyunjin was interesting. Terribly so.

Seungmin got curious by the mischievous gleam in his eyes, that showed so many feelings but at the same time gave nothing away. He got curious by his methods, by the multidimensional character he seemed to be. Seungmin never got curious before by anything, not like that. He couldn’t help but chase that feeling.

* * *

On the tenth day of tracking Sanghee around, Seungmin finally saw a change.

In the middle of overpriced meals and five Fendi shoes, there it was: a night booked in some 5-star hotel down in Gangnam. Jeongin booked Seungmin the same kind, right above hers. Woojin would certainly scold them for using The Agency's money without his authorization but it wasn't anything compared to the total funds. Woojin could deal with it.

Seungmin changed into some fancy suit they had at the HQ for undercover missions before heading to the hotel. Upon his arrival, he seamlessly infused himself with the high-class people walking around the lobby, looking all the part a young businessman from a wealthy family just looking for a night's sleep. He was quickly led to his room and politely dismissed the staff after giving him a standard large tip.

It was 5 o'clock, the sun was starting to set down. Seungmin took out his laptop from the leather briefcase he was carrying. He connected the earphones and listened in.

Jeongin hijacked Sanghee’s microphone and Seungmin could hear everything going around the room.

They had checked in nearly twenty minutes before him but that apparently wasn't enough time for Sanghee to take off bashful Lee Jaehwan’s pants.

Seungmin didn't do much while they were only talking, only taking a bite from the snack bar before going back to listening. Sanghee was making flirtatious innuendos, Hyunjin was demeaning himself for his inexperience. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Hyunjin asked the right questions at the right moments and Seungmin easily caught on the information Sanghee distractedly gave away. He didn’t bother remembering any of them, though. That wasn’t the reason he was there.

Seungmin was finishing his sparkling water when it started: the noises of zippers opening and the rustling of clothes falling to the ground.

He couldn't say exactly what made him close the computer and head to the balcony of his room but he didn’t make himself think about it.

Careful not to be seen, Seungmin dropped down to the lower floor. The huge balcony was identical to his own, except that the heavy curtains were half-closed, while the glass doors were wide open.

Seungmin sat down on the corner to avoid making shadows and waited. He didn't have to wait for too long before the moving around got more intense. He knew he was being stupid as he peeked in from his low position. He could be seen. He didn't care.

Until the sun fully set, Seungmin had a front-row show of Hyunjin’s clean and impeccable work. It was fascinating, really. The way that none of his actions and reactions were ever mishaps. Even genuine expressions were filtered so only the right ones were displayed for Sanghee.

He was Lee Jaehwan, through and throughout.

The play was clearly divided into acts: The Drinking, The Talking, The Sex. After The Sex, came a short relaxed talk to clean up any details there might have been left behind from The Talking.

And then the Grand Finale. It started with the medicine Hyunjin slipped in Sanghee’s drink somewhere during the first act knocking her out with perfect timing. Still naked, he put on the same satin gloves Seungmin saw the other time and pulled out a gun.

Seungmin thought Hyunjin would stage a suicide, just like he did with Junsu. Instead, he propped up the naked woman on the bed, back against the wall, and shot her between the eyes.

The gun was almost silent and what was left of the noise wouldn't be heard through the thick walls between each room. Then he started to clean away all evidence.

Hyunjin wiped away the saliva left on Sanghee’s corpse and the cup he previously drank from. He collected all the hair that had fallen on the ground and on the bed, carefully threw the already tied condom inside a plastic bag and into his unassuming computer bag. Then, he quickly wiped down all the fingerprints he left in the room.

Now Lee Jaehwan was merely a name on a deceased woman’s memory.

Hyunjin was putting his clothes back on when his phone vibrated on the table. He picked it up.

Seungmin watched as his expression went from neutral to tense. Hyunjin shoved the rest of his belongings in his bag, gave the place a last once over, and hurried out of the door. Seungmin followed his example and climbed back up to his room. He opened his computer.

The next minutes were filled with anticipation, one earphone in, and the other being fiddled with between his fingers.

Through the device, he suddenly heard the door open again and several steps getting closer, too quiet to be hotel staff. He held his breath as people started speaking.

 _“I can't believe we missed him again,”_ a female voice said, angry.

 _“I'm used to it already,”_ another rougher voice, also female, answered.

 _“But we were really close today,”_ a young-ish sounding boy piped up. _“I wouldn't be surprised if we crossed with him in the lobby and didn’t notice.”_

 _“That’s so annoying,”_ the second woman sighed. _“Next time for sure.”_

 _“You always say that,”_ the first woman snorted. _“It's a fucking waste of time.”_

_“We've been after him for years, and this is the closest we've ever gotten to catching him. Let's go, we shouldn't waste any more time”_

After that, they fell quiet and Seungmin assumed they were looking around the room for clues on Hyunjin. Ten minutes later, they were walking out empty-handed.

Seungmin took off the earphones and closed the computer again.

* * *

Later that week, lying wide awake on his own bed, Seungmin excused his voyeuristic behavior as mere curiosity. He wanted to see if Hyunjin was really all that professional. How well did he honey his acting when it came to actual sex, if he was he as calculatedly captivating giving as he was when teasing, what were the steps and methods he followed before, during and after.

Eventually, as Seungmin went to the bathroom to wash away sticky white from his hands, he had to admit that maybe he was just a pervert.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pen pinneaple apple knife
> 
> Screw it. Chapter 3 there you go.
> 
> Thank you for the kudos and subscriptions!


	4. Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was fiery and syrupy under Seungmin's hands. Seungmin couldn't be more delighted.

It became impossible to locate Hyunjin after he rushed out of the hotel. It was probably because Hyunjin didn’t seem to be taking up any jobs after almost being caught.

Seungmin was still disgruntled, nonetheless.

Hyunjin had become a regular at Miroh Cafe. Sometimes he went there with Sanghee but mostly he went by himself.

Hyunjin always sat on the same table and wore overly loose, cute attires. He supposed it made sense. Hyunjin was still undercover, his mission wasn’t finished yet. He still was Lee Jaehwan at that time. And Seungmin himself had been a loyal regular ever since his first semester in college, so they were bound to meet there again.

In the beginning, it was purely accidental.

After the third time Seungmin saw him there, he made an effort to time his arrival to match the other boy’s probable schedule. From the fourth day onwards, Seungmin made it a habit to have breakfast while watching Hyunjin happily eat his food. It was easy to get used to seeing Hyunjin every day.

He unconsciously labeled these daily moments where he could carelessly watch Hyunjin be cute as _Hyunjin Time_.

From the start, Seungmin knew it all would have to come to an end at some point, probably sooner than later. It made him a little sad. It had been a comforting routine.

As much as Seungmin tried to find out about Hyunjin's life and learn more about him (did he live nearby? Was he enrolled in some university? Did he have any side jobs to keep up appearances?), he simply vanished every time he left. It was like Lee Jaehwan’s existence couldn’t happen outside of Miroh Cafe.

It was unfortunate, but Seungmin acknowledged the expertly done disappearance.

He continued waiting.

* * *

After he checked out at the five-star hotel the following morning, the first thing he did was change from the suit he borrowed from The Agency. After listening to Woojin's long speech about taking things without permission and the problems it could cause, Seungmin set off to Miroh Cafe.

He automatically looked for Hyunjin as soon as he entered, and as expected, he wasn't there. Hyunjin Time wasn't happening again so soon.

Seungmin tried to enjoy his buttered bread as leisurely as he had been doing lately but it felt dreadfully boring even staying there for more than fifteen minutes. He drank the rest of his coffee on his way to the campus.

The same thing repeated in the next days. Rinse, repeat.

Seungmin grew frustrated, even if he really had no right to. It’s not like he owned Hyunjin’s presence or whatever. It was really pathetic.

Maybe he _was_ becoming a little obsessed

He felt like a stalker. He probably was.

But it was okay, Seungmin decided as he entered his first class of the day. He would never see Hyunjin ever again. He didn’t even want to, anyways. Getting involved with that boy was asking for trouble. Seungmin was much better off not having any kind of contact with him for the rest of his life.

* * *

Seungmin didn't fool even himself.

 _Of course_ he wanted to see Hyunjin again, or else why the fuck would he go through all that trouble just to find him?

The mood at The Agency had been consistent for several days: Seungmin was moody, Changbin was heavily judging him, and Jeongin looked rightfully concerned.

After a whole week of brooding, Changbin decided he had enough.

“Okay, stop that shit right now.” Changbin threw the papers he was reading on the table when Seungmin sighed for the eighth time in the last minute.

“Language,” Seungmin chided half-heartedly.

Jeongin snorted quietly in the back but otherwise kept quiet.

“Fuck off,” Changbin frowned. “What's up with you? You’re scaring me.”

Changbin waited for Seungmin to retort like he usually did but was met with silence. Changbin’s expression softened, and for the first time, he really looked bothered by the situation. He messed his hair with one hand while thinking about his next words.

“Look, huh, you said something about there being people after that Hyunjin dude, right? They want to kill him or some shit.”

Seungmin nodded.

“So,” Changbin sounded more confident now that he wasn't being ignored anymore, “if we get those guys, isn't there a chance he might show up again?”

Seungmin side-eyed him warily.

“You don't mean-”

“I’ll take a look at the hotel surveillance,” Jeongin interrupted him, getting right into work.

Seungmin was surprised as Changbin immediately started scrawling some things on the back of the papers he had (weren't those Ryujin’s reports?), and Jeongin got engrossed in his new task.

“Two women and one guy, right?” Jeongin asked. “I think it might be those three. Matches with the time they left.”

Seungmin looked over Jeongin’s shoulder.

They looked rather plain but he recognized the clinking chain accessory he heard on the audio, hanging from the boy’s belt. And the tapping sound of metal against chromed plastic, that was probably the watch and cufflink one of the women wore that were clanging against each other.

“Might be them. Did they get into a car?”

“Let me see… yeah, they did. Look here, that silver one in the corner. I’ll try to find the license plate, just a second.”

“What car is it?” Changbin’s voice chirped.

“A Tesla Model S, I think,” Jeongin responded.

“Uuh, fancy.”

Seungmin felt quite useless as he watched both of them work away on a plan, that by the way, had nothing to do with them.

He sat next to Changbin to help put in order whatever informations they already had.

Jeongin found the license plate, which was a fake one, as expected. But they weren't as good as concealing themselves as Hyunjin was, so in no time Jeongin tracked down where the fake license plate number came from, which led him to a ghost shop in midtown. After dancing around the many spots in the middle of the ocean the IP address tracker sent him to, he eventually found a bank account in Switzerland. Jeongin looked excited for a moment as he looked into it before he suddenly froze.

Seungmin, who moved from sitting next to Changbin to next do Jeongin, looked at him curiously.

“Innie, do you have a name already?” Changbin asked when he noticed Jeongin stopped typing.

Jeongin hesitated.

“Innie?” Changbin looked up from his notes to Jeongin.

He furrowed his brows when he saw the worried expression on the younger’s face.

“What’s wrong?”

A beat of silence.

“I didn't know Seungri was back.”

“What?” Changbin jumped up from his seat. “I thought he wasn't supposed to be released for another 10 years, at least. We made sure of that.”

“Me too,” Jeongin answered somewhat somberly.

Seungmin watched as Jeongin dragged a couple of paragraphs and photos from one screen to another and Changbin crowded behind them.

“So YG let him go just like that?”

“I would risk saying he even had something to do with it. YG has always been a little on the shady part of the business.”

“Why would he be after Hyunjin?” Seungmin, who kept quiet until now, looked doubtful.

“I was about to ask you that,” Jeongin eyed him. “What did he do to piss Seungri off that much?”

The air was tense around them until Changbin opened his mouth again.

“So the requirements for being Seungmin’s crush is to be really good at annoying people.”

Seungmin sputtered.

“What do you mean? I don’t have a crush.”

“Changbin hyung, aren’t you talking about yourself then?” Jeongin cackled. “You’re the most annoying here.”

Changbin tried to shove at Jeongin and Seungmin glared at them.

And just like that, the uneasiness broke out.

* * *

After that, they didn't manage to get much done. Woojin arrived shortly with an order for them to organize some data and do research about a possible future target. He raised an eyebrow at the unnaturally natural way Jeongin responded but didn't say anything on it.

They made a group chat named _‘:)’_ with Seungmin before they each went home. Seungmin didn't even know he had their numbers saved on his phone. And for the first time since they've known each other, Seungmin had a conversation with them outside of work.

He barely had time to take off his shoes after getting home before Changbin and Jeongin immediately launched on a very pointless talk about burger places around town. Seungmin rolled his eyes and left his phone aside.

By midnight they still haven’t said a single word about the plan they got started on that afternoon. Seungmin couldn't say he was surprised.

After finding out that Seungri was behind all of this, the most obvious action to follow would be to forget all about it. And Seungmin wouldn’t hold any hard feelings. It was dangerous and it didn’t concern them. Why would they bother?

Seungmin went to sleep shortly after.

He was proved wrong in just a few hours.

Seungmin woke up to find they renamed the group chat to ‘ _ >:)’_, and a very long text message from Jeongin greeted him good morning. Seungmin read it while brushing his teeth.

Apparently, the reason why Jeongin didn’t say anything last night was that he didn’t have anything yet. After spending the entire night poking around, he found some interesting things.

Jeongin looked again at that bank account in Switzerland and noticed there was this little digital signature connected with all the transactions. He was led to this relatively unpretentious black card bank account in Japan. There, he found a recent payment for luxury hotel rooms. Not one or two, but twelve.

The names associated were of big brand owners and another handful of heavyweights from the underworld, including Seungri himself under his usual Japanese alias. The catch was, this hotel was located in Thailand, and pretty much everyone that was going to stay there was still in Korea. It meant they still had to travel all the way there.

Jeongin found a private jet under the same name as the bank account in Japan and got the schedule from the flight code. He safely assumed most of the attendees would use the jet to travel since only three names of the list had actually purchased plane tickets. However, these three weren’t very important people so they could be ignored.

In three days, the jet would depart from Seoul at 15h and was expected to arrive in Bangkok at 19h30.

[Jeongin]: _So that’s it for now_

[Jeongin]: _Now you two come up with something_

[Jeongin]: _I’m gonna sleep_

[Changbin]: _Innie, its 7 in the morning_

[Jeongin]: _Your point??_

[Jeongin]: _Good night losers_

[Jeongin]: _See yall after lunch_

Seungmin snorted and almost choked on his toothpaste.

Changbin texted him on private asking if they could meet for breakfast, to talk about ideas without getting interrupted by Woojin. He suggested this place ten minutes away from Seungmin’s apartment and Seungmin agreed.

When he arrived, Changbin was already walking out with paper bags and two coffees.

“Half the place is being renovated,” he said, handing Seungmin a coffee. “They only have like, two tables now and they’re already occupied.”

So they got comfortable in some seats along the street.

After a short but heated discussion, they both agreed that they had a golden chance in their hands. They had everyone they've been wanting to get rid of since forever boarded on a single plane. They just had to bring it down.

To avoid hurting bystanders, the only suitable place for the plane to fall was in a section of the route right over the sea, between South Korea and China. They had to get into the VIP hangars and place a timer bomb inside the jet before it departed.

In theory that was it. Now they just had to think about how they would sneak the bomb in the plane. They were both involved in the operation to arrest Seungri one year before, going undercover to gather proof against him. It was very unlikely Seungri knew their faces but direct confrontation would still be unwise.

“Do you think Woojinnie would let us make a full mask to go there?” Changbin asked right before scalding his tongue with the coffee.

Seungmin scrunched his nose.

“You really think we need help with this? I mean, we'll need to report everything back to him.”

“You just don’t wanna write the reports.”

“I don't wanna write the reports. Let’s just do this between us and get it over with.”

Changbin looked pensive, and when he spoke again his voice was more serious.

“It’s gonna be a bit of a stretch, to be honest. And also a little suicidal to just jump in there with no backup.”

“I don’t really mind these conditions. But if _you_ do, I can just go there by myself.”

“Yah, don’t insult me,” Changbin was back to his louder tone and shoved at Seungmin’s shoulder. “Isn’t danger what we all sign for in this line of work?”

“You were the one complaining just a minute ago.”

“You brat, I wasn’t complaining.”

Seungmin laughed softly.

“So we have three days left,” Changbin said when they stood up to leave. “I think for starters we could take a look at the blueprints, then we work from there.”

“Sounds fine. Don’t forget to update Jeongin on everything.”

Changbin nodded and bid his goodbye. Seungmin continued in the place. He started to count the cars that drove past him.

* * *

The next days consisted of Changbin updating the group chat about the bomb he was building with Jeongin’s remote help (they were both oddly excited by it), and encrypted messages flying around the HQ so they could pretend they were actually working on what Woojin assigned to them.

Jeongin already got their names in the system and changed the schedules of some employees to fit both of them during that time frame. They had to be seen by the least amount of people as possible. No one there would actually know them and that could attract some odd attention.

They decided that they would both pose as the guys that loaded the luggage into the plane. It was less trouble than actually having to talk to the passengers and risk getting recognized.

Even though the three of them also prepared for worst-case scenarios, on the actual day it all went smoothly. It was so smooth Seungmin worried that they could be somehow walking right into a trap but that wasn’t the case either.

For all the trouble Seungri gave them the previous year, Seungmin honestly expected more. He was almost disappointed.

Maybe Seungri was just too engrossed in entertaining his guests and making connections to suspect something was going on. Maybe they were just very lucky. Whatever was the case, aside from a security guard stopping them to ask who the fuck they were, everything went according to plan.

And not plan B, or C, or anything. Their very first plan had no complication whatsoever, and as quickly as they were done loading the bomb into the cargo, they got out.

Instead of going back home, just in case someone followed them, Changbin and Seungmin decided to kill some time around an ice cream shop forty minutes away. Four ice cream cones later, their in-ears came back to life.

“It’s down,” Jeongin said. “It’s gonna take some hours for anyone to locate the junk. Good job, you two, go rest.”

* * *

Seungmin slept very peacefully after that. The jet dropped right where it was supposed to, killed everyone it was supposed to. And most importantly, left room for Hyunjin to breathe.

This last thought is what finally made Seungmin realize how much of a creep he’s been with Hyunjin, following him around.

Seungmin continued going to Miroh Cafe at the same time as always in hopes of stumbling upon Hyunjin again but stopped actively attempting to follow him. He patiently waited for any sign that the boy might be back to his normal life without seeking to bother him. That is, assuming that the cafe was part of his actual life and not just a habit forged for the mission's sake.

Seungmin hoped for the first option.

He tried to stop the growing disappointment when yet again Hyunjin didn’t show up and went to his classes. He was unhurriedly walking through the gates to the entrance.

Seungmin found it a little weird that he already crossed half the courtyard and hasn’t heard Chan calling to him yet. Maybe he was just busy with work today. Seungmin was musing about it when class started, and it effectively kept him entertained for a portion of the day.

The morning passed, lunch too, and hours later he was very tired and didn’t feel like going to his last class. On top of plainly wanting to go home, he also completely forgot to do a project he was supposed to hand in that day. He may have forgotten due to him moping about Hyunjin’s absence, and later being busy trying to fix said absence.

It wasn’t a very hard decision to make.

Seungmin turned to the gates leading out instead of the building his class was in. He looked up to the sky, appreciating the warm colors of the sunset above him.

Then someone stepped in front of him, effectively blocking his way.

Seungmin looked back down and his brain lagged in confusion.

Hwang Hyunjin was standing right in front of him, looking right at him. And he was yet a different person from the man Seungmin saw the other times.

Right now he wore casual jeans and a striped button shirt. His stance was elegant and his chin was held high.

Seungmin felt some sort of satisfaction upon realizing that _this_ right here was the most real Hwang Hyunjin he’s seen until now, with the straight dark hair and slanted eyes directed unwaveringly towards him.

He wasn’t bothered by the fact that Hyunjin seemed to be angry at him. He’s actually been expecting it. He knew he wasn’t being all that discreet when observing him at Miroh Cafe. And if Hyunjin really was Chan’s friend, then he might even know who he was already.

“Kim Seungmin,” Hyunjin said seriously.

_There you go._

“I think we need to talk.”

Seungmin supposed he could afford to delay his response for a few seconds just to keep the stare up for a little longer.

“I think it’s a good idea.”

“Are your classes over?”

“Yeah. I suppose you also know where I live too?”

Hyunjin arched an eyebrow in question.

“Wanna talk there?” Seungmin offered. “No one will follow us there or listen in.”

Hyunjin seemed to ponder for a moment before nodding in agreement.

The walk was short, and they walked side by side the entire time with a sizeable distance between them. Seungmin didn’t mind the silence. Hyunjin didn’t seem to, either.

The building Seungmin lived in was fairly new, built for the students that needed housing for the terms. Each apartment was a bit small but the walls were thick and everyone just kinda minded their own business. And even if they didn't, The Agency would make sure no one bothered him at any moment.

Seungmin’s front door was equipped with both normal and a tetra key, plus the fingerprint scan on the door handle. When Seungmin turned around to invite Hyunjin in, he saw the boy turn his eyes from the camera on the corridor before following him.

Seungmin watched a little amused as Hyunjin politely left his shoes and coat at the entrance. They both sat down in armchairs opposite from each other. Seungmin thought about offering tea when Hyunjin spoke up.

“You’ve been watching me.”

It wasn’t a question. Still…

“Yeah.”

Hyunjin’s glare turned harsher at Seungmin’s nonchalance.

“You’ve been meddling into my stuff. How did you even find out about me?”

“How did _you_ find out about me?”

“I got friends that know some stuff.”

“Me too, I guess.”

Seungmin suddenly realized how much he liked Hyunjin’s normal way of speaking.

Hyunjin crossed his arms. He looked frustrated.

“Why are you doing this?” Hyunjin tried again. His anger was more disciplined now. He sounded more political. “Do you want something from me?”

Seungmin pondered on how to answer.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “I just wanted to know more about you. Sorry if I creeped you out.”

“You really did.”

Seungmin looked sheepish.

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

Before Hyunjin opened his mouth, Seungmin spoke again.

“You know, you don’t have to be so cryptic with me. I already know you’re friends with Chris hyung.”

Before Seungmin could blink, Hyunjin was already hovering over him. There was a blade pressed against his throat and warm breath hitting his face. The smell of mint toothpaste complemented Hyunjin's pleasant body scent.

Seungmin peacefully looked up to meet Hyunjin’s cold gaze.

“Knife hidden on your sleeve, very cute,” Seungmin praised.

“Why do you know that name?”

Hyunjin’s voice was as hard as stone and could make anyone’s balls retreat into their bodies. Seungmin liked the fierceness he saw in Hyunjin’s eyes.

He wanted to tease the boy.

“Chris Bang, isn’t it?” A smile played on his lips. “Acquaintances call him Bang Chan, though. And Woojin hyung calls him insufferable. Oh, wait, are _you_ his roommate? Is that why I never managed to find your address? I thought you just lived in a super shady part of town or something. Or some van. I wouldn’t judge, rent _is_ pretty expensive.”

Hyunjin kept quiet for a few seconds, probably thinking about what to question first. There _was_ an impressive amount of problematic statements shoved together, after all.

“I knew you studied with him but I didn’t think you were close,” Hyunjin chose to say instead. He didn’t drop the knife.

“Why? What did he say about me?”

“Nothing.”

“Hmm… Liar.”

“You’re the liar here. You haven’t answered a single question yet.”

“I did, though. You asked me how, I said some people did it for me. You asked me why, I said it was because I wanted to know more about you.”

“What else?”

“What else, what? There’s nothing else. I did it because I wanted to.”

It didn’t escape Seungmin’s attention that they were slowly drawing closer to each other as they talked. And by the way Hyunjin’s grip on the knife was as tight as ever, he noticed it too.

“What else are you gonna ask?” Seungmin continued, his voice drawing lower. “Come on, talk to me.”

Seungmin’s eyes flickered to the mouth he’s been thinking about for weeks now. Hyunjin licked his lips in reflex response. Seungmin felt something tighten in his guts.

“Leave me alone from now on,” Hyunjin’s voice was no louder than a whisper.

“ _That_ , baby, I can’t do,” Seungmin tsked, voice playful.

“We’ll see about that.”

As swiftly as he brought it out, Hyunjin slipped the knife back into his sleeve and used the now free hand to grab Seungmin by the front of his shirt. Seungmin was pulled forward and met with lips on his, pillowy and moist.

It wasn’t cute nor tender. The kiss was bruising, full of bottled-up tension. Seungmin didn’t know if the frustration Hyunjin felt at that moment was solely because Seungmin was a pretty frustrating person by nature, or tipped to the sexual side like Seungmin’s.

It didn’t really matter, though.

Seungmin gripped long, black locks of hair and pulled, earning a dragged moan from the boy who soon found a seat on his lap. Hyunjin ran his hands under Seungmin’s shirt, up his back and scratching his sides on the way down, before pulling at the hem.

They separated briefly from the kiss to remove the shirt before crashing again. Hyunjin took the opportunity to tweak Seungmin’s nipples between his fingers and grind down. The rough friction of the jeans they were both wearing verged on painful.

A dragged moan grunted its way out Seungmin’s mouth. He tightened the grip on Hyunjin’s hair.

Seungmin bit on Hyunjin’s lower lip, relinquishing their plumpness between his lips and the noise the action elicited, before turning his attention to the pale neck presented in front of him. He inhaled deeply, letting Hyunjin’s natural smell invade his senses.

Hyunjin started rolling his hips more sensually, in a wider and deeper movement. He threw his head back at the feeling of kisses and bites being pressed against his throat, hands coming up to tangle into Seungmin’s hair. He didn’t pull, it just stayed there, caressing his scalp like one would caress a well-behaving pet.

When Seungmin dipped down to mouth at his collarbones, Hyunjin dipped his head.

“How long have you been thinking about me?”

Hyunjin’s warm breath hit the shell of Seungmin’s ear and he shivered, sucking harder to deepen the hickey he was currently leaving. Hyunjin opened the fly of Seungmin’s pants.

“Hmm,” an artful moan broke out of Hyunjin’s mouth. “How long have you been wanting to fuck me? Or maybe you want _me_ to fuck you?”

Although his voice infiltrated Seungmin’s brain like water to a sponge, Seungmin didn’t outwardly acknowledge the words. He was busy trying to unbutton Hyunjin’s shirt and losing his patience on the process, a second from ripping it open.

Hyunjin might have sensed that, because he pushed his hands away to undo the buttons himself. As soon as that was out of the way, Seungmin grabbed Hyunjin’s waist and pulled him closer again. He took joy in squeezing the soft skin, feeling his fingers dip in the flesh.

Hyunjin didn’t have a six-pack but he was slender and toned, beautiful and strong.

Seungmin was going crazy.

They started kissing again. Seungmin hastily opened the boy’s pants and sneaked a hand in. He didn’t waste time palming through the underwear, going straight to his half-hard cock, the other hand going behind Hyunjin’s body to pull the jeans off. Hyunjin raised to help slide the pieces down.

Hyunjin’s cock wasn’t as thick as it was long, quite much like the rest of the boy himself. Amidst the haziness of lust, Seungmin found it cute.

He started stroking his length. The slide was dry and not smooth at all but Hyunjin didn’t seem to mind. He moaned in Seungmin’s mouth and hurried to take Seungmin’s dick out too.

“I wanna fuck you,” Seungmin said, a little breathless when they separated from the kiss. “If that’s okay.”

Hyunjin nodded without having to think about it. Hyunjin gave his mouth a peck before detaching himself from his arms and sliding to the floor between Seungmin’s knees, kicking off his pants and boxers.

Seungmin had half a mind to fuck on the sofa, but really, he could think of a million reasons he’d rather do it on a bed. So he gently pulled away Hyunjin’s hands when he reached for the waistband of his underwear. Hyunjin gave him a confused look. Seungmin helped him up to his feet.

Seungmin already had his dick out, so he removed the rest of his clothing and got his hands around Hyunjin. He understood quickly what Seungmin wanted to do, wrapping arms around Seungmin’s shoulders and legs around his waist when Seungmin pulled him up.

Hyunjin giggled when he was carried towards the already open bedroom.

Another misplaced moment to find something cute but Seungmin did.

Seungmin didn’t exactly throw him on the bed but also didn’t deposit him like a porcelain doll. Hyunjin didn't look like he minded. He watched Seungmin turn around.

“Don’t you live alone?” Hyunjin asked, voice mischievous. “Why bother closing the door?”

“Force of habit.” Seungmin shrugged. “Could you get the lube? It’s on the drawer.”

He heard moving around as he closed the door. The drawer opened.

“Wow, you used up a lot,” came Hyunjin’s amused voice.

Seungmin turned around to find Hyunjin closing the drawer with also a couple of condoms in hand.

“Would it be my business to ask you how?”

“I don’t know, would it?”

Hyunjin laughed again. Seungmin rather liked the sound of it.

“You're right, I guess not.”

Hyunjin threw the bottle of lube to Seungmin and scooted to the middle of the bed, opening his legs in an invitation. That gave Seungmin a clear view of his cock, hanging hot between his thighs.

The warm, angled light entering through the window cast a nice color over Hyunjin’s body, almost making it glow. Seungmin thought about how he wanted to take a picture right now. He didn’t make any move to get his camera.

“Do your worst.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kind comments! ;-; it means a lot


	5. Attention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyunjin was used to attention. Seungmin still made it feel different.

It was very quiet out in the street by the time they were finished. The sky was clear, so the moonlight entered freely through the opened blinds.

Their bodies were sweaty and Hyunjin felt boneless. It had been a really long time since he last had sex just for the sake of it and not because of work. He had forgotten how nice it was.

After some minutes basking in the afterglow, Hyunjin finally disentangled himself from the bedsheets he was very tempted to get comfortable under.

“Mind if I use your shower?” Hyunjin asked.

“Hm?” Seungmin said from where his face was pressed against the pillow. “Sure. The towels are under the sink.”

He would usually just dress up and go but he was very sweaty and wet all the way from his butt to his thighs. He refused to put on his designer clothes over that mess.

The bathroom was tiled white and black. There wasn’t much to see, just maybe the cute matching Keroppi shower cap and towel hanging behind the door. Hyunjin huffed at the unexpected item and proceeded to take a shower.

After he dried himself up he automatically went to clean up the fingerprints he left all over the bathroom. He stopped himself upon realizing how pointless the effort would be.

“Where do I leave this?” Hyunjin asked as he entered the bedroom again.

Seungmin lazily looked up from where he seemed to be almost asleep. His eyes gave Hyunjin’s still naked body a quick once over before he answered.

“Just hang it on the shower box.”

Hyunjin nodded. He finished putting on his clothes, shirt closed up to the last button to not attract much attention to the blooming bruises on his collarbones. Then Seungmin accompanied him to the door. They only exchanged a brief goodnight before Hyunjin left.

Hyunjin couldn’t help but notice Seungmin looked a lot less tense than when he first saw him at the campus.

_Sex does that to people, I suppose._

* * *

Hyunjin has managed to make many enemies during his short life, which is apparently what happens when you work as a hitman with few regards for making new friends. However, as far as he knew few people hated his guts enough to trouble themselves to go after him.

Also, Hyunjin was very lethal and he made sure to get that message through. Which was why Seungmin’s presence bothered him so much.

He didn’t seem to care about that at all.

Encountering Seungmin at Glam Nightclub was interesting. It gave his night a different twist and left him wondering who could that handsome stranger be, with nice arms and chiseled features. But that was it, that’s where it should have stopped.

Choosing Miroh Cafe for his date with Sanghee had been completely random, based only on how different her profile was from the customers that usually frequented the place and thus how low were the chances of someone recognizing her.

And if he were to be honest, he didn't immediately realize Seungmin was there. It didn’t happen often but Hyunjin had to admit he was a little careless.

It was his second time there. The place was pleasant with its big windows and comfortable chairs, so Hyunjin decided to go by himself just to relax a little. He had been calmly sipping on some tea, sitting on the same table as the other day with Sanghee, when Seungmin walked in. Hyunjin immediately turned his eyes to the cup he had in his hands.

He still didn’t know Seungmin’s name at the time but Hyunjin had turned good at telling people apart throughout the years, even if the person he was seeing now looked different from the one he saw on his mission. His eyes were free of the heavy eyeliner and he wasn't wearing leather pants anymore.

The interesting part was that his hair was darker and cut shorter, but Hyunjin was sure he had already seen that exact same shade of brown and hairstyle before. And also that worn-out backpack he was currently sporting.

It puzzled Hyunjin for a few seconds, then his memory fished out the scene from some vague flashbacks.

It was on that same cafe, at the cashier line, when he was already heading out. Sanghee was hanging from his elbow and rubbing her overly sweet perfume all over his sweater. From his peripheral vision, Hyunjin saw a glance of that brown hair almost shoved inside that old backpack.

Yes, that was it. At that moment, he didn’t attract Hyunjin’s attention at all. He sure was good at blending in.

Later he asked Chan about who he could be. After a brief description, he was identified as Kim Seungmin.

According to Chan, Seungmin was hard-working and efficient. He was methodic, smart. A little cold. A little too detached. Good with guns, never missed a shot. He was also good at hand-to-hand combat. He also had a little temper problem sometimes, where he tended to be a little cruel if given the motivation. And he hated troublesome people.

The description wasn’t all that warm, so Hyunjin wondered why Chan looked so fond talking about Seungmin.

Now he had a background but no solid answer. Many speculations went through Hyunjin’s head about the entire Seungmin situation. One crazier than the other, and it quickly got out of hand due to his recent issues.

Hyunjin was having some trouble as of lately. As in, _Seungri-somehow-found-a way-out-of-prison_ kind of trouble. That in itself shouldn’t be a problem directed to him, specifically. Seungri was a problem to pretty much everyone.

However, little before Seungri was arrested one year ago, Hyunjin found out the man had been responsible for some severe traumas to one of his friends in the past. On top of leaving his friend pretty scarred, it got him neck-deep in debts that weren’t his to pay.

Minho said it wasn’t worth it to go after Seungri. He said it was in the past, it didn’t matter. But Hyunjin could see right through his reassuring smile. Somewhere in Minho still lied this scared teenager, robbed from his poor household for a few hundreds, and sold around to men who didn’t even view him as another human being.

Minho has grown up since then — has gotten stronger, wiser — but every now and then he still had really bad nightmares and had to be comforted by his boyfriend until he could eventually fall asleep again.

The anger burned red hot under Hyunjin’s skin.

He was furious.

This feeling was what made him crack up a plan with Jisung to get Seungri. Hyunjin immediately suggested killing him, but surprisingly Jisung was the one who talked him out of it.

“You know I wanna gut him as much as you do,” Jisung said, “Minho is my boyfriend after all. But think about it a little more. By himself, Seungri isn’t a very dangerous dude. The problem is the people that are loyal to him. If we wanna kill him, we have to take care of everyone and it would take a pretty long time to do that. Not to mention, very risky. Or we would have to be very lucky to have the right opportunity but that would take a lot of waiting around.”

Hyunjin pouted. Jisung smiled affectionately before getting back on track.

“You know what I thought of?” Jisung continued. “We still have all those debts he piled up on Minho, right? What do you say we empty his bank accounts to pay them off?”

“Isn’t that worse than killing him?” Hyunjin still looked doubtful. “I mean, won’t that put a larger target on our backs? An alive douchebag is more likely to go after us than a dead one.”

“Well, I _did_ say people were loyal to him but in reality, they're loyal to his money and the influence it brings.” Jisung leaned back on the sofa. “He would never tell anyone if he went bankrupt. And if he does…”

“He would only tell YG,” Hyunjin completed with a roll of his eyes. “If he does that we might finally have something to take YG down too.”

“If it were for me we would have ended him a long time ago. If only that creep wasn’t friends with JYP...”

The friendship between YG and JYP was widely known. To the public they were both just rich friends, YG being the owner of many casinos around the world and JYP being the sole heir to a big restaurant franchise. On the underground business, though, they were both presidents of their own companies of secret agents.

JYP had disappeared almost four years before, so Woojin was now in charge of The Agency. Woojin was Chan’s... _something._ And he eventually became part of Hyunjin’s daily life too, since he was around very often.

If they just killed YG on their own accord it would cause trouble both on the media and on the underground. JYP would _surely_ be brought up too as an ally to most of his activities. It meant trouble to The Agency and consequently Woojin, who was still tightly bound to JYP’s name. And they couldn’t have that.

The only way to take YG and/or Seungri out without further headaches was to tie up a nice, legal process and clear JYP of any involvement, even if they knew he wasn’t exactly all that innocent.

And that was impossible for them to do.

Hyunjin’s somewhat team consisted of himself, Minho, Felix, and Jisung. They worked independently, which meant no ties and no legal responsibilities. Dealing with the law wasn’t exactly their specialty and would expose them too much if they attempted it.

Felix declared he didn’t feel like participating in the plan to get Seungri. At that time he was trying to get accepted into some college and was already being smashed to the ground by all the things he had to get done. Jisung whined that he had to rethink his plan all over again, to which Felix shut him up with a cookie.

After some more thinking the plan ended up being very simple, as most usually were.

Jisung was going to clone the phone of a friend of Seungri’s to send Hyunjin’s contact as a high-class escort called Jewel (Jisung snorted when Hyunjin suggested the name, to which he received a punch in the arm for). Then Seungri would invite Hyunjin to his apartment for the night and Hyunjin just had to leave this small device disguised into a keychain on top of Seungri’s computer and take it back before going out in the morning. Jisung would do the rest of the work.

Hook, line, and sinker.

Seungri loved a nice body coupled with a pretty face. Hyunjin maintained his attention focused where he wanted it to be and the plan worked with no problems. On the next day, Seungri didn’t have a penny to his name and Hyunjin was gone like smoke.

What they did not expect, however, was that less than a month later Seungri would be arrested.

Their robbery ended up destabilizing Seungri a lot: it got him frantic, doing all he could to hide his lack of funds from business partners while still trying to keep up their deals. This weakened state of his meant the opportunity for someone else to finally take him out of the game. Hyunjin didn’t know the details but it seemed like The Agency took care of the case.

Seungri was indicted for the prostitution of juveniles, involvement in drug trafficking, and many other things Hyunjin didn't care to get informed about. The Agency got under the name of some famous law firm in Seoul and publicly announced the lawsuit was being funded by JYP himself. They told the media it was to 'get rid of all the unnecessary evil in the world'.

It was cheesy, but it sounded like something JYP would say.

Hyunjin couldn’t be more elated. Seeing Seungri bankrupt and behind bars meant a lot for him.

Minho probably knew they were somehow connected to the case but didn’t comment on it. And they never spoke a word about Seungri again.

Until recently, that is.

Seungri probably had a lot of time to think about everything in prison and (correctly) lined up Jewel's presence with his money’s disappearance. Maybe he asked around about this boy that whored himself around to kill or steal and found out about Hyunjin’s existence. Maybe someone brought it up to him. Who knew how it all came to be. What mattered is that Hyunjin had to keep dodging several hit teams sent on his track while he tried to work. This tiring routine continued for months.

Hyunjin knew he was being reckless, being out in the open. So much that he almost got caught after killing Sanghee. He went into hiding right after that. He terribly missed the matcha mocha they served at Miroh Cafe but managed to keep off the radar for the most part.

Less than two weeks into hiding, however, Jisung suddenly slammed open his front door one night. It startled Hyunjin so much he spilled all the hot chocolate he had in his hands on the front of his shirt. He squealed.

“Oh my God, couldn’t you knock?” He yelled at the boy hurriedly walking in, trying to hold the burning hot fabric away from his body. “Noo, it’s gonna stain! Look what you did, this is my favorite shirt… I could've gotten burned, what would you do then? And take your shoes off before coming in, where are your manners?”

“Shut up for a moment and listen to me.”

Jisung’s words effectively cut him off and Hyunjin stopped midway from taking off the chocolate-soaked shirt, sleeves halfway off and the hem propped over his head.

“Seungri is dead,” Jisung said with a big smile. “And so are like, almost all of his associates.”

A pause.

“Pardon?”

“Their plane exploded on their way to Thailand.” Jisung made himself comfortable on a high stool, looking through Hyunjin’s arrangement of snacks. “A search party was sent for them when they didn’t arrive on time and found parts of the plane scattered around the sea. No bodies, no evidence. Only a few arms and legs here and there, that is.”

“Holy shit.”

Jisung wiggled his eyebrows at Hyunjin before taking a chocolate bar for himself.

“Who did that?”

“Well…” Jisung visibly hesitated, ripping open the packaging. “That’s the part I’m not sure you’re gonna like.”

“What? Just say it. What could be so bad-”

“You know that dude that was stalking you? What’s his name again…”

“Kim Seungmin?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

Jisung bit into his snack and Hyunjin stared at him. A second of silence passed until the information sank in.

“What, are you saying he did that?”

A nod. Hyunjin lifted his shoulders in confusion.

“That’s… weird? Really weird, actually. It was his agency that arrested Seungri before, wasn’t it? It’s so off-character for them to not just throw him back in jail.”

“Maybe Seungri could find a way out again, maybe they just went with the flow because they had an opportunity." Jisung was talking with his mouth full and Hyunjin grimaced in half-disgust. "Who knows. What matters is he's gone.”

Hyunjin looked down, thoughtful. For some seconds the kitchen was filled only with Jisung’s lazy chewing before Jisung spoke again.

“Can’t you just, like, ask him?”

“How do you suggest I do that?” Hyunjin looked up back at Jisung with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, for starters, Chan said Seungmin is always over at his place. Gave him the key or something. He’s too nice, I swear. Though Felix didn’t even know that before today because-”

“He’s never home, I know. Felix always comes here to inhale my food like he was the one who bought it.”

Jisung snorted.

“Yes. So yeah, you could try that. Or if you want to have a more private talk, just go find him at Chan’s uni. They go there together.”

Hyunjin’s face scrunched up.

“What? Seriously? How come no one ever told me that?”

“Forgot to,” Jisung shrugged.

Jisung then took his phone out from his pocket and pointed at Hyunjin, who took a moment to realize that he was taking his picture. Jisung laughed in satisfaction at the photo he just took.

“What was that for?”

“You look absolutely ridiculous,” Jisung teased. “Like a dinosaur. Or that hunchback you know, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

“Quasimodo,” Hyunjin corrected with a huff, pulling his shirt the rest of the way off.

“You know so many useless stuff.”

Hyunjin gaped at him, offended.

“Excuse you, it’s culture.”

“Yeah, sure,” Jisung rolled his eyes. “Whatever butters your bread.”

Hyunjin snatched the half-eaten chocolate bar from Jisung’s hand when he passed by him on his way to the laundry room.

“What the hell, I was eating that!”

“Fuck you. And you owe me a new shirt.”

* * *

So, Hyunjin organized what he already had: Seungmin somehow knew his schedule, just so he could show up every day at Miroh Cafe at the same time he did and just watch Hyunjin eat for half an hour while his own food went cold. Several times Hyunjin also had to evade Seungmin trying to follow him out of the Cafe.

Then Seungmin somehow found out about his mission with Sanghee, followed Hyunjin to the hotel (he had Jisung to thank for that information), and even stayed a night in there.

And now, out of the blue, Seungmin _somehow_ _also knew_ about his problem with Seungri and got rid of it just like that — something Hyunjin had to withstand for years, gone, like it was nothing.

Hyunjin spent the next days thinking about it all and at the end of it, he wasn’t that weirded out anymore. He was just angry. Even more after finding out Woojin had zero idea about one of his teams scheming Seungri’s death until it actually happened.

What was with that guy?

Seungmin _did_ do a huge favor to him and everyone else that hated Seungri but, not to be conceited or anything, the only possible conclusion was he did that just because it had something to do with Hyunjin. It was the only different thing about the last year and this moment.

How much did Seungmin know? About him? About what he did? What the hell did he want from him?

Hyunjin just couldn’t wrap his head around the situation and it made him angry.

When he asked Chan for Seungmin’s schedule, he said it would be better to just wait around the gate. Seungmin sometimes decided to randomly skip classes, thus he could get out at any time. Hyunjin suggested they waited together but Chan said he wouldn’t go to any class on that day.

“It would be pretty awkward if I stumbled on you guys talking,” he explained. “And knowing my luck I probably will. Also… I just don’t wanna be around. Seungminnie is pretty unpredictable. I won’t be able to choose sides if it came to you two trying to kill each other.”

Hyunjin understood.

Hyunjin tried to remain angry and focused while he and Seungmin talked. However, Seungmin’s eternal nonchalance and his cheeky demeanor set him off in a way he couldn’t really explain. However, the angry feeling changed colors when he saw a shift in Seungmin’s eyes: that slight change from the still waters to the beginnings of a dark storm. Hyunjin was surprised.

He enjoyed seeing Kim Seungmin losing his cool. He became greedy.

From there on it was fairly simple. Seungmin was good looking. And hot. Very hot. He was confident and also knew what he liked, and turns out Hyunjin also liked what he liked. They were lucky.

Hyunjin wasn’t completely sure of what he accomplished with this visit, though. Yes, he did get some very satisfying sex and that was nice but what actually motivated him to even go there went unanswered.

_Well, if it was a fuck he wanted, he got it. One of the options is down either way. Now we wait._

* * *

With his pursuers gone, Hyunjin was finally able to work again. Properly now, without having to run away all the time.

He and Minho worked similarly. They were good at seducing and manipulating people, which was usually the easiest way to get things done. Felix wasn’t very comfortable with this kind of action but he went to the field with them to assist and give backup whenever necessary. Felix was small-framed but strong, so Minho liked to leave the fighting part to him. Jisung usually assisted them from his and Minho’s apartment, being their eyes and ears where they couldn’t reach by themselves.

They formed a pretty good team of misfits.

Their next job was to get into this gala party and steal the host’s family ring. It was due to an old family row with the host and, really, it was just to piss him off. It was a stupid job but insanely rich people always did stupid things. The payment was good for just that and they would get to drink ridiculously priced liquor and eat as many low-carb canapés as they wanted.

Minho decided to catch on some sleep so he stayed at home, which left only Hyunjin and Felix dressed in tight-fitted, expensive suits, charming their way through the high-end guests. It was a laid-back job, so none of them were particularly concerned about being speedy.

Hyunjin was in the middle of telling some incredible rich-kid childhood story to the host when his eyes caught sight of a familiar warm brown hair. Hyunjin didn’t show on his face, smile ever so pleasant and voice smooth. But on the inside he was freaking out.

_What the hell is he doing here?_

Some meters away, talking to a different group of people, Felix gave him a glance. Hyunjin signaled to wait by putting his free hand in his pocket.

Seungmin wasn’t doing anything. Wasn’t staring or trying to get closer. He was only socializing in this boring party just like everyone else. So Hyunjin decided to let him be. Maybe he was sent there by his agency to take care of some business or whatever.

On a side note, Seungmin’s waist looked incredible in that dark grey suit.

After some more talk, Hyunjin realized the host — a guy on his thirties with very white teeth — had become comfortable around him. Hyunjin’s open posture and flirty smiles made sure of that. So he took the next step. A light hand grazing his forearm, a step too close, voice dropped down to a husky whisper.

When the man’s eyes lingered a second too long on Hyunjin’s lips, he knew the game was already won.

On their way to a random room on the upper floors, Hyunjin enlaced their fingers to make sure the fancy family ring was still there.

He fleetingly wondered if they should go another way since the rooms from the second floor up were actually historical heritage, and shouldn’t be entered without authorization. But there was nowhere else to go: the bathrooms were too busy and the gardens lacked privacy. He decided he would just deal with any problem should they arise. It wasn’t the first time he blowed someone in a place he wasn’t even supposed to be in and certainly wouldn’t be the last.

Hyunjin didn’t plan to go all the way this time, though. The guy looked like he couldn’t find a prostate to save his life anyway. They just messed around a little. Hands went under shirts and grabbed butts. Hyunjin dropped to his knees. He loosely held onto the man’s hands, that were gripping onto Hyunjin’s hair as he thrust In his mouth. As the man was nearing his orgasm, Hyunjin looked up to check if he was really immersed in it before imperceptibly sliding the ring off his finger.

The man wanted to cum on his face, so Hyunjin let him. The warm liquid hit him on the brows and the bridge of his nose and slid to his lips. The man looked sated.

Hyunjin let him wipe his face clean with a tissue before pressing against his body to give a last kiss, hand going to his wrist and cleanly taking off the watch he was wearing. Hyunjin pulled on his blazer again, with a flourish to hide him pocketing his newly acquired items, and walked out. He ignored the man’s calls to know his name.

The room they were in was at the end of the corridor, two flights of stairs up from the party. Hyunjin turned the corner to go down the stairs when a big figure, suited in simple black, blocked his way. He looked up to see a rigid face looking suspiciously at him. _Damn security._

“Are you a guest?” The security guard asked. “You can’t be up here.”

“Oh?” Hyunjin gave him a convincingly confused look. “I’m very sorry, I didn’t know that.”

He glanced behind the security to find yet another one coming up the stairs. Hyunjin knew how to identify when the situation called for _special services_ , and this was clearly not it. For starters, he didn’t really have time to waste. It was only a matter of time (minutes if he was lucky) until the host realized he had been robbed and went after him. And also Hyunjin knew first hand that these high-paid securities were painstakingly hard to seduce. They would hardly throw away their jobs for a random twink.

It’s kicking ass time, then.

Hyunjin could usually hold his own just fine in a fight but these guys were strong and trained. Felix was already waiting for him outside just like Hyunjin signaled him to do, so even if he called him it would take too long.

Although he supposed he could pull it off with the assistance of the blades he had hidden under his clothes, it would be a little difficult and he would probably get a couple of bruises in the process. Hyunjin liked to avoid the mess of unnecessary bloodshed but it was inevitable sometimes.

The man closer to him raised an arm, probably to hold him in place by the shoulder. Hyunjin slipped the knife on his sleeve to his hand, ready to make his move.

Before he could, though, a sudden movement behind the security made him stop. He couldn’t see everything, most of his vision being blocked by the large man in front of him, but he saw two shadows moving quickly. The security about to grab him also realized the movement and looked back to check.

Hyunjin used that moment of distraction to cleanly cut through his throat with one slash. He quickly stepped out of the way of the blood gushing out the wound and the dropping body, turning his attention to the other guard. He looked just in time to see the neck of the second security guard being cleanly twisted and his body dropping lifelessly.

Hyunjin narrowed his eyes as Seungmin straightened up and tidied his blazer back in place.

“You didn’t have to, I had it under control,” Hyunjin scolded without raising his voice.

“I know.”

Seungmin only changed expressions when he glanced at the blood seeping through the ornate carpet covering the floor. He grimaced.

“Did you really have to kill him like that?”

Hyunjin was surprised to hear Seungmin’s displeasure displayed in his voice, like he didn’t even bother to conceal it. Hyunjin wondered why.

“Does it make any difference how I kill people?” Hyunjin asked.

He decided to respond to Seungmin’s honesty with honesty of his own. Clean, no games.

Seungmin tilted his head to Hyunjin’s indifference, which was so unfairly _cute_ and so completely unfitting of their situation. Hyunjin felt his chest tighten a little.

Hyunjin was snapped back to reality when a door opened a little far away and an angry ‘that little minx’ could be heard coming closer. He then quickly resumed his descent with quick steps. He wasn’t sure of what to say to Seungmin as he slowed down when passing by him but Seungmin beat him to it. Hyunjin looked puzzled at the black handkerchief being offered to him.

“There’s blood on your shoes,” Seungmin answered the silent question.

Hyunjin felt oddly touched by the gesture and nodded in appreciation. He continued making his way down and noticed Seungmin didn’t move from his spot. Hyunjin assumed he had business with the host and decided to leave him alone.

He stopped at the bottom of the staircase, where the carpet ended, to quickly clean his shoes.

Outside, he saw Felix leaning on a black car, wine glass in hand, and distractedly looking around. He seemed to be enjoying the cool night air. He smiled as he saw Hyunjin getting closer.

“You shouldn’t drink before driving,” Hyunjin censured playfully.

“I don’t even have a license,” Felix laughed back in his deep voice.

He was in a good mood, which made Hyunjin happy.

“As if that ever stopped you before. Hey, hyung.”

Hyunjin opened the back door and greeted Chan, who was patiently waiting behind the wheel while listening to some new girl group he was into these days. As Hyunjin entered and closed the door again, he amusedly realized Chan was wearing old sweats and a shirt so big it probably belonged to Woojin. Felix didn’t bother leaving behind the crystal glass and got in as well.

“Did it all go alright?” Chan asked when they crossed the gates.

“Yeah, I’ll call Mrs. Daeng tomorrow to set up a place to meet,” Hyunjin answered, taking the items out of his pocket and showing to them.

“Are you giving her the watch too?” Felix giggled.

Hyunjin shrugged.

“I thought you’d like it. It looks like the one you had an eye out for last time we went out.”

Hyunjin gave him the Montblanc piece when Felix extended his hand.

“Cool,” Felix praised the leather band and elegant design. He smiled brightly at Hyunjin. “Thanks.”

Hyunjin smiled back.

“So,” he looked around, “whose car is this?”

“I don’t know, hyung just showed up in it,” Felix said and drank the last of his wine. “It’s pretty neat, right? It even has a cup holder. Hold on, no, it has _two_ cup holders.”

Chan laughed.

“You guys remember BamBam, right?”

“Your Thai friend?” Felix barely looked up from where he was nosing around.

“Yup. I said I needed to fetch the kids from a fancy place and he let me have it for today.”

“He scares me a bit,” Hyunjin shivered.

Chan fixed him an apologetic smile through the mirror.

“He’s hard to get through in the beginning,” he said, turning his attention back on the road. “But if you try to talk to him you’ll see he’s pretty nice.”

Hyunjin agreed unconvincingly.

He didn’t remember to tell them about the Seungmin incident for the rest of the day.

Even when Jisung announced, alarmed, that the host of the party was taken unconscious to the hospital and asked them if they had anything to do with it, Hyunjin conveniently forgot to tell them about Seungmin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time I'll roll around a little with Hyunjin's POV. This chapter is pretty much only to set the story up from all the sides so I can move it forward without leaving many holes.  
> I got a little faster in proof-reading my chapters, so you guys get a double update this time! Yay :D


	6. Listen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The storm finally started. The rain pours and it's bitter, so bitter. Lucky him Seungmin is there to help sweeten it up.

Hyunjin tried to find several excuses for Seungmin’s behavior that night. They ranged from ‘he just happened to be there’ to ‘he was shit drunk’ to even 'it was a dare from his friends'.

Felix didn’t agree with brushing the subject off but Hyunjin wasn’t taking any of his words to heart. Felix had been the biggest Seungmin-anti ever since Hyunjin first complained about Seungmin attempting to follow him out Miroh Cafe. Felix also started locking the door to his bedroom after he found out Seungmin was Chan’s dear mystery friend that always went to their place.

“You should be put-out by him too,” Felix defended himself when a visibly sad Chan questioned him. “He’s obsessed. Next time he might go through my things to find out more about Jinnie. Like I'd let him. Only over my dead body.”

Hyunjin thought he was exaggerating but didn’t comment on it as to not further upset Felix.

Turns out the situation got more complicated as time went on.

In the next three jobs Hyunjin had, Seungmin was there for some reason.

Somehow Seungmin knew where he would be each time and would wait for him there, flawlessly blended in just like always. On two occasions he just kinda loomed around and pissed Felix off but on the third, it was a little different.

It was in a fairly famous brothel on the outskirts of Seoul. Hyunjin had been put in a pretty tight spot where he couldn’t just leave without causing a commotion. If he didn’t follow along he would blow the whole operation up and it would be a pain to fix.

In these cases he usually just took one for the team and shrugged off the damage. Minho always became distressed after and scolded him until his ears fell off. Hyunjin eventually stopped telling him when it happened.

Instead, what happened this time is that Seungmin magically popped in the room and bullshitted Hyunjin’s way out of there. It was so quick Hyunjin needed a second to process what happened before looking back at Seungmin.  They were standing a couple of doors down on the hot pink corridor, a couple of girls and boys dressed in lace walking back and forth the other rooms.

“Is your target any of the people inside?” was the only thing Seungmin asked.

He didn’t ask for context or insight into the situation or anything. Hyunjin also absentmindedly realized Seungmin took care of maintaining a respectful distance from him.  Hyunjin had no clue how he should react.

“No,” he found himself saying. “My target is in the VIP section.”

Seungmin nodded.

“I’ll keep people away from there.”

And then he walked away.  Hyunjin watched as he turned the corridor and went out of sight.

_ What the fuck. _

The rest of the job went with no hiccups. Hyunjin recorded the confession he needed, did what he had to do, and went back down.  It was almost creepy how no one even crossed his way, especially since the rooms' area was usually so crowded and busy. Back on the main lounge, though, all noise returned.

He was dressed skimpily, and with the nature of the place he was in, hands patting his butt or people calling him up wasn’t really out of the ordinary. He only gave them side smiles before starting to make his way towards the staff room behind the bar.

Felix was sitting with a couple of boys and girls around a table, all of them with liquor on their hands and looking like they were having a lot of fun. Hyunjin knew Felix was still very focused on his work, though, eyes attentively observing the room.

Hyunjin tapped Felix on the shoulder as he walked behind him to signal he was done. Felix scratched his neck in reply, before dropping his hand on the back of the couch.

Usually, they went back home as soon as they were finished but sometimes Felix stayed overtime, mostly when they went to some specific brothels and strip clubs. He was friends with plenty of sex workers, which also gave them easy access to many useful features for their jobs.  Sometimes he stayed just to hang out with them, sometimes to have a little fun. Today was a day he would do one of these things, so Hyunjin took his time in changing from his outfit and removing the glitter from his face as best as he could.

Hyunjin wanted to thank Seungmin for his help but was afraid he might have already gone home. Fortunately, he located him sitting at the end of the bar.  Seungmin took a glance at Hyunjin's casual attire and wordlessly left a bill on the counter, walking out right after. Hyunjin thought maybe Seungmin didn’t want to talk inside, so he followed him out of the door, bidding goodbye to the bartender. When he exited, though, Seungmin was nowhere to be seen.

Hyunjin blinked once, twice, before gathering himself back up and starting his walk to the car parked on the corner. He knocked twice on the window before getting in. Jisung and Minho greeted him cheerfully from the front seats, talking about the date they went on while Hyunjin and Felix were working.

“Is Felix staying tonight?” Jisung asked, turning his head to look outside.

Hyunjin muttered a positive response before lying face down on the backseat. Minho and Jisung exchanged a look at his odd behavior. Minho waited a few seconds to see if Hyunjin would say anything, before shrugging and starting the car.

It was driving Hyunjin crazy. Seungmin was always there but he  _ always  _ disappeared right after everything was done.

_ What does he want? Just another fuck? But then he would stay around, right? Or is he waiting for me to approach him? _

It’s not like Hyunjin would mind having sex with him again, either way. It was pretty nice the other time, and Hyunjin was sure that if they got to know each other better about their preferences, Seungmin could easily become a fixed appointment in his schedule. Also, Seungmin  _ did  _ eliminate an annoying threat for them (may Seungri rest in fucking pieces).  Maybe he wanted some other kind of favor? Eye for an eye?

Hyunjin yelled in frustration, muffling the sound with his arm. Jisung startled and looked back at him with wide eyes, while Minho chuckled.

Hyunjin ignored it all.

He had more things to worry about, like this hot motherfucker who thought he had the right to just strut into his life and confuse Hyunjin like that.

One of the things he couldn't stop asking himself was if Seungmin was a cuddler or not.  And if he was, was he the kind to nuzzle up to people? Would he distractedly play with Hyunjin’s hair while watching a movie? Or maybe wrap them both with a blanket like a warm burrito?

A lot of times he was also less soft. Hyunjin remembered very well the tanned skin stretching over defined shoulders and strong arms. Although Seungmin’s body was defined, he didn’t have a six-pack, but that didn’t bother Hyunjin at all. Seungmin was still scorching hot without them.

He also couldn't stop thinking about how well their bodies fit against each other. And maybe it was because he was used to giving his body away for business only, but mostly he couldn’t really forget the way Seungmin focused all his attention on making Hyunjin feel good. It was nice. Hyunjin liked having this kind of care turned to him.  Hyunjin was a whore for praise and attention.

He would rather die than having to admit it out loud.

A voice that sounded suspiciously like Jisung suggested just asking Seungmin and getting this mess over with. It was slowly starting to not sound like such a bad idea.  But not like the last time. No, sir. This time he would be getting actual answers.

Usually, the four of them waited for job offers to pile up so they could go over them and choose which ones they wanted to take. Hyunjin was in a hurry, though, so he accepted the first one that appeared without asking the others. He tried to evade their complaints as much as he could, but they eventually had to gather to talk about it.

“It’s such a shit job,” Minho whined. “I really don’t wanna go.”

“You can’t skip out on this one,” Felix said over a mouthful of instant noodles.

“You’re never home, and when you are the first thing you do is eat all the ramen,” Chan’s voice interrupted from the kitchen.

“It’s not so tragic, you should eat healthier anyway.” Felix rolled his eyes.

“It was the only food we had at home. It’s not about being healthy, it’s about not starving. Come on, mate, leave some for me.”

“We can order some takeout?” Jisung suggested.

“Let them be,” Hyunjin dismissed it. “Felix needs to learn how to share his food.”

Between Hyunjin’s deadpan look and Chan’s puppy eyes, Felix relented. With a sigh, he shuffled to the side to give Chan some space on the sofa. Chan smiled happily and ran to retrieve a bowl and chopsticks before sitting down.

“Okay, now back to my problem?” Minho called out, raising his arms.

“You have to go too,” Jisung said apologetically. Minho pouted. “Sorry, babe.”

“Hey, I just remembered, won’t Seungmin be there? Just ask for his help.”

“We don’t have any way to know that for sure.”

“He’s always there.”

“We can’t just count on him like that.”

“Wait, where is this gonna be again?” Chan asked, looking as if he was trying to remember something.

“Uhh.” Jisung scrolled up the file he had open on his laptop. “It’s a dermatology congress at… Just a second… an events venue called White Foyer.”

“Boring,” Minho sing-sang.

“Seungminnie will certainly be there,” Chan said after a second of thinking. “But he’s gonna be working too, so don’t count much on his help.”

Minho raised his eyebrows.

“Wow, very eventful for a  _ fucking dermatology congress _ .”

Hyunjin rolled his eyes at the way Minho spit out the last words.

“It’s not that bad,” Felix said. “You’re just annoyed you won’t be able to wear leather there.”

“And you’ll have to keep your mouth shut,” Hyunjin added.

Minho threw a pillow at Hyunjin, to which Hyunjin laughed.

“I  _ could  _ wear leather if I wanted,” Minho said in a brattish tone. “A hot doctor wearing leather, that’s cool, everyone would look at me.”

“That’s exactly what can’t happen.”

“Okay, so,” Jisung cut in with a loud voice, Minho glared at him. “I got Felix in to help at the check-in, so you two just go straight to him. Minho and Hyunjin will be students from medical school attending the congress, just say whatever university if someone asks. Okay, now, the best shot we have is to get Dr. Kim alone right after her lecture, because she’ll leave right after.”

Jisung dug in his pockets and threw them a ring each. Hyunjin liked it, it was black and thin, similar to the ones he usually wore.

“You just have to touch her phone with the ring for about five seconds,” Jisung continued. “It’ll give me access, we’ll be able to get the audios the client wants and then we get paid. Any questions?”

They muttered negatives and Jisung seemed satisfied. The next minutes were spent in silence as they started busily assembling the characters they would be for the job. Hyunjin hesitated before speaking up.

“Channie hyung?”

“Hm?”

Chan was peacefully watching Animal Planet on the television. He took a moment watching these two identical snakes trying to kill each other before looking at Hyunjin.

“What’s Seungmin gonna do there?”

“Why do you wanna know?”

His rebuttal was immediate, like he was already expecting that question. Hyunjin wondered if he was that easy to read, as Chan looked at him straight in the eye while waiting for a response.

Hyunjin was thinking if he would be able to see Seungmin during the job, which was the whole point of shoving that dermatology congress down everyone’s throats. It would be annoying if they couldn’t meet at all.

Of course, he wasn’t going to say that

He blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“I’m just… having a bad feeling?”

Chan laughed quietly.

“It’s actually funny,” he said, turning back his gaze to the television. “You guys need to take data from Dr. Kim, they need to keep you from doing that.”

“What?” Felix stopped typing on his phone. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, not specifically keep  _ you  _ away from her. Just protect her in general since she’s been receiving some death threats. She’s the daughter of the Prime Minister, after all.”

Felix threw his hands up.

“You didn’t even think of telling us that?” He accused Jisung, who shied in on himself with a disconcerted smile.

“I forgot?” Jisung offered awkwardly, to which Minho scoffed.

Hyunjin fell into worried silence as the sound of Minho teasing his boyfriend faded into the background.

_ Well, this complicates things. I might not even see Seungmin at all. And even if I do, how am I gonna find time to talk to him? So much for a simple talk _ _. _

* * *

Minho and Hyunjin threw rock, paper, scissors to decide who would talk to Dr. Kim. Minho won, so he decided to stay with the part of distracting anyone who tried to interrupt Hyunjin while he did his thing.

“If I choose to talk to her I’ll have to play the part of the overly dedicated student,” Minho said simply. “That means actually studying and wasting my entire day there, so nah.”

It really  _ was  _ a pain. Hyunjin was regretting impulsively accepting this job as he spent three days cramming everything related to dermatophytosis he could find.  The regret grew bigger when he had to wake up at 7 AM on such a cold day, just to make up his overachieving student image and be one of the first people to arrive at the event.

At the check-in, he greeted Felix with a nod. The poor boy looked like he didn’t have a blink of sleep, probably stayed up playing League of Legends or something. Felix pretended to take a picture of him for initial registration and handed a folder filled with flyers, the schedule, a notepad, and a pen.  Hyunjin stuck the identification card labeled Park Himchan to the front of his dress shirt.

Hyunjin tried to look for Seungmin while he waited for the activities to start but he was nowhere to be seen. Dr. Kim’s lecture would be only in the afternoon, so he had almost six hours to kill before he could actually get anything done.

He supposed he  _ could  _ have waited for a better job to show up but what could he do? He was a little walking ball of anxiety and wouldn’t be able to take more waiting without blowing up (possibly into tears), not knowing when he would get to have his talk.

Every information Hyunjin received during the seminars was erased the moment they entered his brain. He felt like his brain was slowly turning into mush.

Hyunjin was careful to only attend the lectures he knew a little about due to the desperate studying he did that week — just in case someone decided to talk to him, then he would be able to vaguely answer something reasonable. Turns out it was a great decision since some people did speak to him. They seemed really interested in the story of this boy, who was so young but already so invested in his career choice. He did his best to talk about his supposed experience in medical school without looking like a dumbass.

Dumbass was actually a great definition of how he felt: sitting through painstakingly long hours of talks about shit he didn’t care about just so he could ask a couple of questions to this one cute boy. Unbelievable.

There was envy in his eyes as Hyunjin watched Minho arriving during lunch break, looking well-rested and not yet bored to death.

After eating, Dr. Kim’s lecture seemed to come quickly. Both Hyunjin and Minho followed the crowd to the auditorium and sat near the stage.

Hyunjin understood only some parts of what was being said but jot down everything nonetheless like the studious boy Park Himchan was. He probably missed several vitals points but he wrote a question or two that related to the things Dr. Kim said and that hopefully sounded somewhat smart.

After one hour and a half of a very long, white preset PowerPoint presentation, Dr. Kim bowed down to the applauding audience and shortly sat down so a staff of the congress could pass on some announcements about the upcoming activities.  Hyunjin noticed she looked absent-minded by the end of it all. Talking for such a long period of time must have tired her out, and that was perfect.

After the final words, Dr. Kim started walking towards the opposite side Hyunjin was in. He took advantage of the mess of people walking around to quickly make his way across the stage.  Hyunjin noticed a guy with strong arms and pointed chin standing near the exit. He looked like he was security, and paid close attention to Hyunjin as he got closer to Dr. Kim. Hyunjin purposefully ignored him.

“Excuse me,” Hyunjin called out to Dr. Kim. “Could you spare me a minute?”

Dr. Kim turned around and cautiously took in his fresh appearance and polite expression. She smiled back.

“How can I help?”

“My name is Park Himchan and I’m a fourth year. I’m very interested in specializing in dermatology in the future and I wanted to ask you some questions about what you said today, if you’re not in a hurry,” he added like an afterthought and gave her a toothy smile.

“Oh, I see. No problem at all, ask away.”

Hyunjin felt the guy at the door still looking and glanced at him.

It was indeed uncomfortable, being scrutinized like that, but nothing Hyunjin wasn’t used to. However, Park Himchan shouldn’t be familiar with this kind of attention.

Hyunjin was about to make a show out of showing just how awkward Park Himchan was feeling, being watched like that. The moment Hyunjin met the security’s eyes, though, he realized: this person knew who Hyunjin was. The overly analyzing cautiousness gave it away.

_ Interesting. Does he know me through Seungmin? _

Hyunjin toned down the nervousness he first intended to show. The only person he really needed to convince was a not trained and already tired 44-year-old woman.

“Did I do something wrong?” Hyunjin said in a hesitant voice, giving side glances to the man. “He looks angry.”

Dr. Kim glanced at who he was talking about and shook her head with a laugh.

“It’s just his job to take care of my personal security, please don’t mind him. Your question?”

“Ah, yes.”

Hyunjin pulled out the notepad, shuffling closer to her to show the notes he had taken. While she was distracted, looking at the writings and hearing him talk, he slipped the hand with the ring inside the pocket of her suit and pulled her phone out.

With his peripheral vision, he saw as the guy — that he now figured out worked for The Agency, just like Seungmin — realized what happened and started walking towards him to stop whatever Hyunjin was doing. Hyunjin was in a placement that made it hard to evade him. He checked Minho’s position.

Minho thankfully also saw the movement and was already coming over to intercept the agent coming Hyunjin’s way.

Hyunjin pretended he wasn’t seeing any of this happening as he hurried to complete the last part of his play. He softly startled with an ‘oh’, interrupting himself. Dr. Kim raised her eyes at him.

“I almost forgot,” Hyunjin said sheepishly. “You dropped your phone when you sat down earlier, I got it for you.”

Hyunjin watched as she frantically searched her pockets to make sure it really wasn’t there, then looked back at Hyunjin. Simultaneously, Hyunjin realized Minho wasn’t anywhere nearer than when he last looked and neither was the agent. He was confused.

“Thank you so much.” Dr. Kim took her phone back gratefully. “I wouldn’t know what to do if I lost it.”

“I can imagine. If I lost mine I’d be totally helpless.”

She chuckled in response and finished answering Hyunjin’s question, then turned back to the agent that was still hanging nearby.  Hyunjin looked up. His heart skipped a beat when he saw a new addition.

Seungmin was now standing there too, looking slimmer than usual in comparison to his buffed up colleague. He also looked taller, since his friend was a bit on the tiny side. He looked directly at Hyunjin for a solid second and Hyunjin felt weirdly embarrassed.

Dr. Kim was oblivious to the exchange as she finished relaying the rest of her day to her temporary bodyguards and they both responded in accord. The other agent opened the door so she could walk out, throwing Seungmin a last pointed glance before following her.

Seungmin made to go after them but Hyunjin was quicker.

“Don’t go yet, I wanna talk to you.”

Hyunjin knew he was throwing all caution away and Seungmin’s surprised look emphasized that. He didn’t back down.

“I can’t right now, we have a schedule.”

Seungmin sounded properly apologetic but again, Hyunjin was an anxious person. He couldn’t wait for another opportunity to happen.

He took the pen he had tucked inside his pocket and grabbed Seungmin’s elbow, raising his sleeve and scribbling on his arm. Seungmin kept very still until he was released again.

“Meet me as soon as you can,” Hyunjin said, capping the pen back.

Seungmin looked at the address on his skin. He hesitated for a split second.

“Is 10 too late for you?” Seungmin asked.

“Today?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s fine.”

Seungmin gave him a soft smile before muttering a ‘see you soon’ and finally going after his friend and Dr. Kim.

Hyunjin looked at the door for a few more seconds until he realized he was the only one left at the auditorium. He took a deep breath before making his way out.

Now that the situation was more certain, he was okay with waiting for some more hours but he would much rather do it at home. Maybe laze around on his couch with some ice cream, after a nice and warm shower. Instead, he had to stay at the damn congress until the end.

Hyunjin wished he could allow himself to be more sloppy at his job. However, Seungmin’s appearance reminded him yet again that you never know if someone is watching you. You could never be too careful.

Park Himchan would stay until the end. He would diligently write down notes and continue to talk to teachers and quench his thirst for knowledge.

Fuck Park Himchan.

* * *

The hours passed by very slowly after that. It was 19:30 when the activities were finally over and they opened the main hall for a cocktail to close the day.

Hyunjin didn’t see Minho at all after Dr. Kim’s lecture and assumed he went back home already. Hyunjin tried to eat some of the snacks they were offering but he stomached very little of the greasy food before finally deciding it was more than time to go back home.

Felix was already in his living room when he arrived, halfway through a popcorn bowl. Hyunjin wasn’t even fazed by his presence as he ate with him and watched some movie that was on, before hopping in the bathroom.

After a long shower, Hyunjin remembered he didn’t check his messages at all during the entire day. There were some around noon, from a bored Felix asking for a distraction and not even fifteen minutes later complaining that they were giving him too much work. Others were from Jisung sending him some memes, and a lone one at the end saying he got access to Dr. Kim’s phone along with a ‘good job’ plus thumbs up. And lastly, there was Minho, asking him to call as soon as he got home.

It rang two times before Minho picked up. Hyunjin didn’t even have time to greet the other before Minho’s voice cut through.

_ “Okay, now will you tell me what the fuck was that?” _

“What?”

Hyunjin tried to balance his phone between his shoulder and ear while getting dressed.

_ “The other agent there- his name is Seo Changbin by the way, Chan told me.” _

“Oh.”

_ “So, this Changbin dude, he was about to do his job of keeping menaces away from lady Kim. Let’s be real, you’re a menace through and throughout, he was right to make that face at you.” _

“I’m sorry?” Hyunjin paused to give Minho his best offended voice.

_ “Forgiven.” _ Minho ignored Hyunjin’s sputtering on the other end of the line.  _ “As I was saying, he was about to throw you out or whatever but then Seungmin actually stopped him from getting closer. Does Seungmin owe you a favor or something? Or many? He’s been helping you out an awful lot.” _

“I have no idea. That’s why I wanted to talk to him, actually, I also don’t understand what’s going on.”

_ "Talk to him? When did you decide that? I didn't even know-" _

Minho continued rambling and Hyunjin went back to the living room. He plopped down next to Felix and eyed him sideways. Then a realization popped into his head.

“Wait a moment,” he said and both Minho and Felix paused — Minho stopped talking and Felix turned to look at him. “You need to go.”

_ “What? Go where?” _

“Not you, hyung, I need to send Felix out.”

_ “Felix is there? Tell him Channie told him to buy some soda on his way home.” _

“Chan wants you to buy soda on your way home.”

“Okay.”

_ “And also to pick up when he calls.” _

“Stop ignoring Chan.”

“That’s outrageous? He only called me twice today.”

_ “And I’m telling you to bring my shirts back. You must have like, five at your place and I’m running out of clothes to wear.” _

“Bye, hyung, talk to you later.”

_ “Hey-” _

Hyunjin hang up and threw his phone aside before starting to gather Felix’s stuff that was thrown around the room.

“Why are you kicking me out? What did I do?” Felix asked confused.

He paused to think, and then he gasped dramatically.

“It can’t be that you’re bringing someone over...?”

“That’s right.”

Hyunjin finished getting everything and deposited them on Felix's arms.

“Wait, I was joking. Are you serious?”

Hyunjin kept quiet and started pushing Felix towards the door. Felix resisted.

“Who is it?”

“Just go.”

“I’m curious, tell me.”

“Please, go back to your own house.”

The doorbell interrupted their banter.

Before Hyunjin could do anything, Felix had already darted towards the door. He balanced all his belongings in one arm and opened the door with the other.

“Seungmin, what a surprise to see you here,” he greeted pleasantly and turned to Hyunjin to smile maliciously.

Hyunjin grimaced at Felix. _Little devil._

Seungmin looked confused between the two of them.

“Is it a bad moment?” Seungmin asked, looking at his phone to check if he was too early.

“Not at all,” Felix answered, a smug smile still present on his face.

Felix shoved his stuff into his bag and patted Seungmin on the shoulder as he walked past him. The only sound was Felix singing purposefully out of tune, up until the elevator doors closed.

“Uh, sorry about that, he’s inconvenient,” Hyunjin said, scratching the back of his neck. “Come in.”

After Seungmin assisted Hyunjin in their mission at the brothel, Felix’s view of him changed drastically. He probably got more details about what happened than Minho and Jisung, due to his friends that worked there. That was probably why the action seemed to hold more importance to him. Suddenly he was all chill about Seungmin and worry gave way to indecent teasing.  Hyunjin honestly preferred when Felix completely abhorred Seungmin’s existence, it was easier.

Seungmin was careful in lining up his shoes as if he didn’t want to disturb the peace of the expensive shoe rack or whatever. Hyunjin found it very cute.

Hyunjin felt a different energy from Seungmin, now more perceptible since they had no professional duties to carry. It was especially different if compared to the first time they had sex. Seungmin's eyes lacked that strain of aggressiveness and his posture wasn’t as carefully neutral either.

Hyunjin suddenly found a word to describe what exactly was different: Seungmin had his guard down. As if Hyunjin’s presence made him comfortable.

The thought made his heart speed up.

He may just be over-analyzing everything, which was something he was truly good at. But even so, it felt so casual to sit next to Seungmin this time.  None of them were tense, the silence felt natural. But silence wasn’t what Hyunjin invited him over for. He turned the television off to have fewer distractions.

“Just answer me honestly,” he said, voice clear. “Don’t play games with me this time.”

“I wasn’t planning to but go on.”

Again, Hyunjin was thrown off. The sincerity displayed was too immediate, Hyunjin didn't have time to prepare himself.

He cleared his throat and hesitated. Seungmin patiently waited.  Eventually, Hyunjin got the words out.

“What are you doing all this for?”

“What are you referring to?”

“I mean, I don’t understand you. Before, at the cafe, it used to be a convenient place for you. Maybe watching me was a new hobby that you could fit into your routine, I don’t know. Now you’re obviously going a lot out of your way to do this and I just  _ don’t get it _ .”

Seungmin opened and closed his mouth. He thought over his words.

“Do you want me to stop?” He asked with a sad frown of his eyebrows.

“I want you to explain it to me!” Hyunjin exploded, frustrated. “I can’t stop thinking about you during my free time so I can’t fully enjoy anything I do. I think about you every time I drink a coffee, and you know why? Because it reminds me of that damn cafe and that damn place reminds me of you. I’m also getting insomnia for the first time in five years and it’s all your fault, you’re fucking everywhere, even when I’m going to sleep. So could you just cut it out and answer me, for God’s sake?”

Seungmin blinked at Hyunjin’s outburst.

Hyunjin used the moments it took for Seungmin to let it all sink in and breathed very deeply to try and get his nerves back to level.

“I’m really sorry I bothered you like that.”

Seungmin’s sweet voice was so  _ raw  _ it made Hyunjin’s heart tighten.

“I figured your team might have some difficulty in distance communicating by the way I saw you operating, and I thought I could give a hand if you needed. And I didn’t lie the first time, I really just did everything because I wanted to. You’re interesting and I wanted to get to know you better. I know I intruded into your privacy, though, so I thought maybe keeping it strictly work-related wouldn’t be as intrusive.”

Hyunjin wasn’t sure of what he should say. Hyunjin’s head was spinning in a hot mess of different feelings, and it all mashed up together and came out all weird. The result was a mix of frustration and exasperation, which brought on another thought to his head. That was the one he decided to spew out.

“I didn’t even thank you for your help that time at the brothel, by the way.”

Seungmin waved a hand dismissively. If he was taken aback by Hyunjin’s sudden change in tone, he didn’t say show it.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“No, really. You’ve been wasting so much time around me that it feels like I’m taking advantage of you. So, tell me, what is it you need?”

Now Seungmin frowned at the way Hyunjin’s voice suddenly piped up at the end.

“What do  _ I  _ need?”

“Yeah, right? People just don’t do all this without wanting something in return. So, although you  _ were  _ a bit stalkerish I’m willing to forget it. So, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. A free pass. Whatever you wanna call it. You can ask for whatever you want, or do whatever you want to me.”

Hyunjin looked expectantly at him but Seungmin looked very baffled at what he said.

Seungmin looked down at his hands, thoughtful. Hyunjin tilted his head, trying to take a look at what kind of expression he was making. He started to get nervous as Seungmin kept quiet for a little too long.

“I never thought I was wasting time,” he finally said, still looking down, “and I’m not gonna ask you for anything in return. No, actually…” Seungmin then raised his head. “Actually, I do have a favor to ask.”

Hyunjin gestured for him to continue.

“You were talking about taking advantage of me,” Seungmin was very careful with the words he chose, “but if I just did something to you now, then  _ I _ would be the one taking advantage of you. You shouldn’t let people treat you like that.”

A beat. Hyunjin’s mood soured.

“Ah,” Hyunjin chuckled dryly. “I don’t really mind, I’m used to it. Also, I don’t know if you remember but that’s literally what I do for a living.”

“Work is work. This here is unrelated. My point still stands.”

“It’s a weak point,  _ Seungminnie _ .” Hyunjin’s tone was mocking now. “Why do you care so much about a slut, anyway?”

The crease between Seungmin’s eyebrows deepened and his voice turned softer around the edges.

“Don’t-”

“Don’t what?”

Hyunjin smiled sideways with a roll of his eyes. His chest hurt. He hated talking about his insecurities but the dam was already halfway cracked. It was easy now to just let it overflow.

“ _ ‘Don’t call yourself that?’ _ But it’s true, isn’t it?”

He couldn’t stay still, so he got on his feet. Seungmin stood up as well.

Hyunjin was rambling now.

“What’s wrong with being a slut? There’s nothing wrong with being a little cheap. And if I cost a little more, no one is gonna want me. Who would take broken goods?”

“Hyunjin…”

“Don’t.”

Hyunjin finally raised his head to look him in the eye. Seungmin looked very sad. Hyunjin felt anger growing inside him.

He wanted to wipe that off his face.

He wanted fury. He wanted disgust. He wanted some stupid, savage show of power. Those were things he knew how to deal with.

Not that caring sadness.

No. He didn’t know what to do with that on his hands. He wanted it gone.

“Don’t bother. No one gives a shit. Stop trying to be the better person, you’re not. Be more like everyone else.”

The blood was sizzling hot inside Hyunjin’s veins and it made him agitated, anxious. He hated this topic.

Seungmin opened his mouth to say something but Hyunjin didn’t want to hear it.

He would probably break down if he did.

Hyunjin pulled Seungmin by his shirt and slammed their lips together. It was barely a kiss from how hard they collided.

Hyunjin was too blind in his misdirected cholera and Seungmin was trying to figure out a proper way to react.

Hyunjin walked Seungmin backward until they both fell on the sofa. Seungmin finally made a move and put his hands on Hyunjin’s shoulders to push him back. His hands were light, mindful not to hurt

The careful touch only made the turmoil inside Hyunjin grow more unstable.

Friends were safe and warm, he knew how to deal with friends — when they were only friends. Maybe Hyunjin could be friends with Seungmin one day but for him there would always be that odd feeling bubbling right underneath the surface, waiting to burst.

On second thought, he could probably never be  _ just  _ friends with Seungmin.

They didn’t know much about each other to say they were close in any aspect but what was beginning to form there was a kind of vulnerability that was different from the one he displayed to his friends.

Hyunjin was scared.

He was also aware he was going overboard. Very much overboard, in fact. But that was the point: aggressiveness was always responded with aggressiveness. At the end of this all he would either be used like a toy or beat up and left for dead.  In either option this emotion — slowly taking place in his mind like a parasite, leaving him feeling too open and too susceptible — would fade away.

All it would take was one rash response from Seungmin and Hyunjin’s subconscious would finally be able to recognize him as just one more stranger. Like he should be.  Then Hyunjin would be able to go back to living the way he always did.

That thought propelled Hyunjin to push through the hesitance he momentarily felt. He was heavier when pressing his body against Seungmin.

His hands weren’t tender, they weren’t meant to caress. They were meant to bother, to sting, to make Seungmin snap. But no matter how much he scratched and gripped, Seungmin didn’t make any move to hurt him.

Seungmin wasn’t frantic or anything. He was very conscious in where he was blocking Hyunjin like he was only waiting for an opening that Hyunjin wasn’t willing to give. 

The rage Hyunjin felt eventually turned to frustration. Its blunt edge was painful in digging a deep hole in Hyunjin’s chest, and suddenly he was being washed over by a pang of profound sadness. It sank on his stomach and burned behind his eyes.

Salty tears entered his mouth and he couldn’t focus on breathing.

Seungmin stiffened for a long second when he realized Hyunjin was crying. He noticed Hyunjin’s hands faltering from where they were trying to pull his shirt up.

Up until now, he had probably been trying not to trigger any more hysterical reactions from Hyunjin, thus the overly careful movements. But now he decided it was time to get this over with.

Firm but not tight, Seungmin snatched his wrists and finally managed to pull Hyunjin away. They looked at each other.

Hyunjin was a mess: face and eyes red, breath shallow, and cheeks smeared with tears. Although Hyunjin was taller, he was trying to make himself small, hiding in shame and pain behind his own trembling hands. He thrashed weakly in Seungmin’s hold and Seungmin waited.  Only when Hyunjin finally got tired and a heart-wrenching sob made its way out of his chest, did Seungmin release his arms.

Seungmin sat up and pulled Hyunjin up to his chest, gently as one would treat a newborn creature. Hyunjin let him.

The cries got louder, muffled into Seungmin’s shirt while Seungmin ran his hand over Hyunjin’s overgrown hair.

Hyunjin was severely touch-deprived, so this tender hold was like a balm to his ever hurting wounds. He didn’t know how long Seungmin would be willing to indulge him, so he pressed as close as he could and inhaled deeply.

Hyunjin didn't notice before how nice Seungmin’s smell was. It was mellow, comforting.

Slowly, Hyunjin started to run out of tears to cry, and all that was left was swollen eyes and an aching throat. He took his first breath that wasn’t shaken with tears, and that change in sound actually made Seungmin pull Hyunjin closer.

They stayed some minutes in quiet closeness before Hyunjin broke the silence.

“I’m sorry,” Hyunjin said, voice weak.

“For what?”

The stroking on his head didn’t stop and Hyunjin felt his throat threatening to close at the tenderness.

“For everything, I guess. Especially just now. It was awful of me.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m really sorry. I’m a jerk.”

“A little. But I am too so it’s okay.”

That got a small laugh from Hyunjin.

On the back of his mind, Hyunjin knew that Seungmin’s response wasn't very suitable for the situation. Even if other people  _ could _ somehow attempt to comfort him, anyone else would at least feel violated on top of the pity.

That’s what Hyunjin did, after all. He touched Seungmin without his permission and Hyunjin knew better than anyone that a mental breakdown was no excuse to violate someone's space like that. Much less than that would make any normal person push him away and never look back.

He should have known by this point that Seungmin was far from a normal person.  Seungmin had wavelengths in a different frequency from the rest of the world. Maybe that was why he somehow understood what Hyunjin was going through and forgave him so easily. Maybe that was why Hyunjin somehow felt so safe, encased in his warm arms.

An odd boy taking care of another odd boy.

Hyunjin couldn’t help but think about what would happen if he had actually managed to hurt Seungmin in this mess he created, and he quickly realized he wouldn’t be able to live with that. He should stay away from Seungmin, so the possibility could never come true.

Maybe Hyunjin should have been more concerned at how fast he made himself forget that thought.

After several minutes, Hyunjin’s body was thoroughly relaxed and tears were completely drained. Seungmin nudged at him to sit up, to which Hyunjin whined but complied.

Seungmin brought him a cup of water from the kitchen. He waited for him to drink everything before guiding him to the bathroom to wash his face and then to the bedroom. There was an oversized shirt still on his bed from when he changed in the morning. Seungmin sat Hyunjin on the edge of the bed and eased him out of his clothes, pulling the shirt over his head.

It had been a very long time since anyone took care of Hyunjin like this. It barely seemed real.

Seungmin tucked Hyunjin in, pulling the comforter up to his chin and was turned to head out. Hyunjin felt the warmth slipping away and the emptiness that gave place felt a thousand times colder than he remembered.

“Stay with me,” he rushed out, so small it was barely there. “Please.”

Hyunjin watched as Seungmin paused and then softly closed the door. Hyunjin smiled. It was so reminiscent of their first night together, and yet everything was different.

“Why close the door?” He said, voice weak in an attempt of humor. “There’s no one else at home.”

Seungmin caught on the reference and chuckled. He only rid himself of his jeans before slipping under the covers beside Hyunjin. The queen-sized bed could comfortably fit two adults, yet they shuffled close to each other.

Neither Seungmin nor Hyunjin fell asleep quickly but they kept the silence. Hyunjin basked in the comfort he was being offered, eyes looking distant through the half-closed curtains. He spent some time like this, couldn’t possibly tell how long.

His eyes only fluttered closed when light rain started to fall outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow this was a rollercoaster of emotions.  
> This chapter is so long, I'm so sorry. I got carried away.


	7. Besmirched

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungmin was warm. Hyunjin found himself nesting in the comfort he offered.

Hyunjin woke up feeling so well rested he was almost weirded out. If he dreamed of anything, he couldn't remember, and he barely moved from his spot.

His eyes were still closed. He enjoyed how cozy his bed felt. The air was icy outside of his blankets, which made him snuggle further under them. The sudden chill weather was probably due to the drizzle last night.

_ Last night… _

Hyunjin almost didn’t — he didn’t want to feel the disappointment — but he still reached over the other side of the bed. And sure enough, it was cold and empty.

He didn’t mind when his friends went back early after their sleepovers. Hyunjin enjoyed mornings with them (even if he usually woke up no earlier than 10 AM) but it was fine if they didn’t happen. He knew everyone would eventually gather again to hang out.

This, on the other hand, was like a bucket of ice water over his head. Just a reminder of how he and Seungmin were nothing to each other. The cold light filtering in through the curtains irritated his eyes when he opened them. He barely looked at the other side of his bed as he rose up.

It was okay.

He repeated it to himself many times as he got dressed in warmer clothes.

It  _ was  _ okay.

Hyunjin was disappointed, sure, but at least he got a lifetime’s worth night of kindness. He could be content with just that.

It was  _ okay _ .

(There was still a small, lingering hope that Seungmin could still be somewhere else in the apartment. As he walked past the empty rooms on his way to the kitchen, he had to accept he was alone again.)

He opened the fridge and stared unfocused at it until he realized he didn’t want to eat anything from there. He closed it and grabbed a cereal from the cupboard, along with a bowl.

Hyunjin was still sleepy and out of it, so he finished pouring the cereal on his bowl and just zoned out. Only a few minutes later of standing like a sim he realized he didn’t even know what cereal he was about to eat.

“I didn’t buy it…?”

He took a look at the packaging.

“I didn’t even know Birthday Cake Fruit Loops existed,” he mumbled to himself with a yawn.

So Jisung or Felix found his stash of food and were now hoarding up their own in there. Typical. Hyunjin fondly wondered for how long they were doing that without him realizing it.

Hyunjin took his cereal and walked over to the couch, sitting down and looking for the remote. He turned on the television and looked for the most boring and information-filled program to help occupy his mind.

Hyunjin thought about choosing a documentary on the history of math but he wasn’t  _ that  _ desperate yet. So he settled on some news channel. They had already gone through the news for the early morning birds and were now addressing the middle morning birds, such as Hyunjin.

Maybe, if Hyunjin had chosen another path in life, he could be a late morning bird. Waking up no earlier than lunchtime, working part-time in the afternoons, going to college at night. He often caught himself wondering what could have been, had he made different choices. The end conclusion was always that he wouldn't have met any of his friends (his _family_ ), with now the addition of Seungmin. His life would be easier, but without them in his life would it have meaning?

He looked at his cereal and suddenly realized he forgot to put milk in the bowl. He groaned and his eyes flitted to the kitchen. Did he want to walk all the way there again or was he willing to swallow dry-ass Fruit Loops?  Should he get up?

No, the couch had already warmed up.

He decided to embrace the dry cereal. The next moment he also realized he forgot to get a spoon.

It was  _ really  _ cold to get up.

Hyunjin raised his bowl to his mouth, ready to shove the coloring-filled carbohydrates down his throat when his front door opened. He paused, looking up.

Hyunjin expected to see Felix, as usual, so he startled when Seungmin walked in, all bundled up in a warm jacket.

With the jerk Hyunjin gave, sugar fell from the bowl right on his face.

“Hey, you’re up,” Seungmin’s voice greeted from the door as he moved around. “I hope you don’t mind, I borrowed some clothes. I didn’t think it would get so cold so suddenly.”

“It’s okay,” Hyunjin’s answer was muffled from where he was wiping sugar from his eyes with his sleeve.

Seungmin walked over and settled the paper bags on the coffee table, along with a holder that had two coffee cups.

“I would cook but I’m really bad at it, so I just decided to get something nearby.”

Seungmin sat down on the armchair, then looked at Hyunjin.

“Oh, I didn’t know you were eating already,” he muttered, eyeing his bowl. “We can eat this later, then.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Hyunjin hurried to say.

He left the bowl on the arm of the sofa, reaching for one of the paper bags. Seungmin eyed the precariously balanced cereal, before taking it and putting it on the coffee table as well.

The food Seungmin brought was from a place not far from Hyunjin’s apartment. Hyunjin had never actually gone there but figured he could start when a nice and fluffy sweet bun stared back at him from the bottom of the paper bag.

They ate in comfortable silence for some time, watching the television. Hyunjin half-wished he had chosen something more interesting to watch but was appeased at how interested Seungmin was with the bee farm they were talking about in the news.

Hyunjin felt a pull on his heart when he saw the matcha latte Seungmin got for him.  _ He remembered that from watching me eat at Miroh Cafe. Stalkerish but cute. _

Hyunjin wanted to ask if he planned on staying longer but he didn’t want to break such a nice moment.  He felt happy, so he kept to himself. He only commented on how tasty the food was. Seungmin seemed proud of himself.

It was okay.

* * *

Seungmin eventually went back home at some point during the day. Hyunjin asked for his phone number before he left.

He was apprehensive. He didn’t know if he was overstepping.  Would Seungmin feel bothered? Would it be an invasion of his personal life? Hyunjin didn’t know where he stood with him.

Hyunjin was probably overthinking, like always, since Seungmin simply entered his number on Hyunjin’s phone and then asked for Hyunjin to do the same. Hyunjin saved his own contact with a little heart at the end. Maybe he saw a ghost of a smile on Seungmin’s lips before he bid his goodbye and left.

For the next days, nothing too interesting happened. But unlike usual, it felt terribly lonely to stay on his own. Hyunjin decided to stay over at Minsung’s apartment.

They didn’t complain or ask why since it was natural for them all to treat each other’s houses as their own too. Hyunjin took a toothbrush and some underwear before he set off. He almost forgot Minho’s shirts, but remembered two streets down and ran back to get them. He was rewarded with a bright smile from Minho.

“I can’t believe you brought them back,” Minho praised when he was handed the small pile of clothes.

“I’m just giving them back so I can get more,” Hyunjin answered. “I was tired of them anyway. I need more variety.”

Minho rolled his eyes good-naturedly but didn’t complain. He was used to his antics by now.

After three days, Seungmin texted him.

They were in the middle of ordering dinner, Minho lying over Hyunjin’s stomach, both sprawled on the floor. Jisung and Minho were discussing over kimbap or udon when the message arrived.

[Seungmin]:  _ are you home? _

Hyunjin piped up at that, his heart started thundering in his chest. Minho noticed the change and raised an eyebrow at him.

[Hyunjin]:  _ Yeah, y? _

[Seungmin]:  _ i’m coming in fifteen _

Hyunjin almost sat up at that but remembered on time that Minho was on him. He supported Minho by the head as he replaced himself with a pillow. Minho didn’t make a move to help him, staying completely limp.

“I’m going back home,” Hyunjin announced and swung his little bag of belongings over his shoulder. “Thanks for having me.”

“You’re not gonna eat with us?” Jisung stopped where his finger was hovering over the button to complete the order.

“No, sorry. Something came up.”

Hyunjin yelled a hurried ‘bye’ behind his back and ran out, leaving behind both Minho and Jisung looking very confused.

He would have run back to his apartment but the ground was very slippery, so he just fast-walked and hoped he got there before Seungmin did. The sunset was almost over by now and the air was getting even chillier, his breath condensing as he exhaled. Hyunjin received some messages on the way back but ignored them, or else he would take too long to get back.

The elevator trip was eight floors, and Hyunjin could swear it was going slower than usual. He stepped out before the doors fully opened and mentally groaned when he saw Seungmin already standing in front of his apartment, leaning against the wall with his phone in hand. Seungmin looked up questioningly, not expecting him to appear from behind.

“I thought you were home?”

“I actually teleported back outside to surprise you.”

Seungmin snorted.

“Sorry to leave you waiting,” Hyunjin was panting a little as he got closer.

_ I was afraid you wouldn’t come if I said otherwise, sorry for lying. _

Hyunjin fumbled with the keys but managed to open his door, leaving way for Seungmin to enter first. Instead, Seungmin approached him and softly touched his face.

“Wait, I’m all sweaty,” he said, trying to dodge the hands on his cheeks and forehead.

“I don’t mind,” Seungmin said and frowned. “You’re so cold, where’s your coat?”

That’s when Hyunjin realized he ran out with only a long-sleeved shirt. He then became conscious of how warm Seungmin was in comparison and finally started to feel the effects of being underdressed for the weather.

Hyunjin brought up his hands to blow on them and Seungmin immediately encased them in his. Seungmin rubbed on the knuckles, red from the cold. Hyunjin felt his face warm up from the caring action and he suddenly felt shy.

“You should take a hot shower,” Seungmin pulled them both inside and closed the door. “I’ll make you some tea. Even inside it’s cold, do you have a heater or something? Actually, do you even have tea?”

“The tea is next to the cups, up there,” Hyunjin stammered. “And I think I have a heater somewhere but I never remember to use it.”

“Where do you think it is?”

“In my closet, maybe.”

Seungmin nodded and ushered him to the bathroom. Hyunjin smiled at Seungmin’s retreating figure.

* * *

He went to sleep very content, next to Seungmin — who just kind of invited himself over, though Hyunjin wasn’t going to complain — and woke up feeling like hell.

Even after warming himself up in the shower, drinking two steaming cups of strawberry tea, and staying in a very heated up living room, Hyunjin ended up catching a cold.

His throat felt like sandpaper and his head hurt like someone hammered on it from the inside during the whole night. Seungmin wasn’t by his side yet again when he woke up but came back to check on him not even five minutes later.

Upon seeing Hyunjin’s miserable state, Seungmin touched their foreheads together to feel his temperature. Hyunjin was so dazed he couldn’t find it in himself to feel flustered. Hyunjin caught a slightly panicked look on Seungmin’s face before he slipped out of the bedroom. He came back in half an hour with some medicine and a cup of mint tea.

Later that day, Seungmin confessed he never took care of anyone sick before, so he didn’t really know what to do. He had to call someone up to ask for help. Hyunjin asked who. He was surprised when Seungmin replied he called his mother. He spoke of her with care and respect, and Hyunjin suddenly wanted to meet her too. She must be really great to have given birth to someone like Seungmin.

Seungmin stayed around for some days until Hyunjin got better, and then left after giving a box of ginseng tea to Hyunjin. The order was for him to drink one every day but sometimes Hyunjin forgot to, so he hid the tea packets he didn't drink so Seungmin wouldn't scold him.

It started to become routine: Seungmin showed up, stayed around for some time (it ranged from one day to five, it depended a lot), and then eventually went back to his own house. It was safe to say they were almost living together since Seungmin spent most of the week at Hyunjin's.

Seungmin was a neat roommate. He tidied up the mess Hyunjin left behind every room he went to. And he brought his own clothes to wear, as well as shampoo and toothpaste.  There wasn’t much to complain about him. Hyunjin enjoyed the company.

Seungmin told him that most times he went back was because he was assigned to a mission. Hyunjin started asking about them over dinner.  As Seungmin talked more about his job, he inevitably had to include talking about Changbin and Jeongin. Hyunjin asked how they met and what kind of people they were, and was a little startled when Seungmin pretty much shrugged it all off as if he didn’t care.

Hyunjin was afraid he made it awkward all by himself, so he started to talk about his own friends.  Seungmin seemed surprised when Hyunjin mentioned he also knew Woojin, and that he had even slept over a couple of times.

“It’s a little weird to imagine my boss being friendly like that,” Seungmin said and shoved a spoonful of fried rice in his mouth.

"Wait until you catch him and Chan hyung making out. It happens a lot."

Hyunjin cackled when Seungmin choked on his rice.

Hyunjin loved the domesticity. And he also loved the sex that came with Seungmin being around a lot.

He was right: as they got to know each other better and started trying out new things, Hyunjin could confirm that they were _very_ compatible sexually. The next thing on their list of kinks to try out was shibari. The ropes he bought online already arrived and Seungmin said he was practicing the knots, so no, Hyunjin, not yet but soon. Hyunjin was really looking forward to it. 

They only had to be careful about Felix randomly arriving. Felix had always wanted to learn how to cook, and upon finding out Seungmin was also bad at it, he decided they could learn together. Because of that, he often came over for them to experiment with new recipes. However, once he walked in on two very naked people having their fun on the couch.  Seungmin and Hyunjin froze in their spots while Felix just blankly stared for no more than three seconds, before turning away and walking back out. From then on he started knocking before coming in.

Minho already told him it was funny that Hyunjin could take having sex like one would shake hands but became flustered when people were sweet to him. Jisung thought it was sad.

Hyunjin knew he shouldn’t but Seungmin was around so often that he started to expect him to stay every time. Until now Seungmin hasn’t disappointed him but there was always that tiny insecurity gnawing at the back of Hyunjin’s mind. He tried his best to shrug it off and enjoy these happy moments as much as he could.

* * *

It was one morning just like any other.

Hyunjin woke up feeling deliciously sore after a long night of fucking. The other side of the bed was empty but it didn’t bother him anymore. He stretched and got up, putting on his boxers and the first hoodie he found lying around. When he opened the bedroom door, he smelled fresh coffee and something... burned?

Hyunjin peeked in the kitchen, unruly hair falling all over his face.

He silently observed as Seungmin fought with the omelet he was trying to make. It looked like a mess and a little too dark on some spots. Seungmin realized his presence and turned around, pointing sheepishly at the frying pan he was holding.

“I tried to make breakfast,” he said. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have tried. But the coffee is okay, I think. Thank God you have a coffee machine.”

Hyunjin’s heart did that funny backflip that happened whenever Seungmin did something particularly endearing.

Standing there, barefoot, wearing Seungmin’s hoodie and watching him giving up on his ruined omelet with a resigned sigh, Hyunjin realized he has never felt more at home.

_ Ah, I’m screwed. _

He wondered if it was so bad to give in.

On the back of his mind, he already knew the answer.

(It wasn’t)

* * *

Once, a very long time ago, Hyunjin had another place to call home.

Hyunjin was very young and his father had already vanished from the picture. It was just him and his mom. They spent a lot of time together and played a lot.  Sometimes she went away during long periods of time for work but then grandma would take care of him. Grandma was also very nice and made him many desserts that his mom didn’t usually allow him to eat.

When he was six, however, grandma passed away. Grandma had been widowed for some time already and his mom didn’t have any siblings, so she had to suffer by herself. Hyunjin was there for her but he was too young to properly understand the concept of death, so he could only do so much. Unfortunately, she wasn’t allowed much time to grieve.

She pulled Hyunjin aside to talk not even a month after the funeral. She said she needed to work or else she wouldn’t be able to pay for Hyunjin’s education or buy food. She never really told him what she did for a living and Hyunjin just assumed she worked in some kind of office — like the ones that always appeared in movies and that every adult seemed to work at — and often had to travel for the company. Grandma always told him she would explain if she wanted, and had her reasons if she decided not to.

His mom gave him a big hug and apologized for having to leave him by himself. She taught him how to properly warm the food she left for him in the fridge and to make sure the doors were properly locked before going to sleep. So once every odd week his mother left for any duration of time from one to a few days. 

Ever since then, home started to feel a little less like home.

Not to say he grew up neglected but she wasn’t always present. She already had a lot on her plate, so he felt bad about worrying her about his troubles.  It was this classmate who was a bit mean to him. It was this girl who accidentally spilled milk on his shirt. It was this teacher who nitpicked on everything he did just because. Everything was too trivial, too unimportant, so he just continued bottling everything up.

Things were peaceful until they weren’t anymore.

Hyunjin was ten, just back from school, and a man with spiked black hair and a white suit was waiting for him in front of his house. The stranger said hi. He was trying to look friendly but his mom already taught him how to deal with this kind of person, and it wasn't by being nice.

Hyunjin kicked him in the shin and then ran inside.

He thought the stranger would then go away but he decided to talk through the door. Hyunjin felt satisfied at the little note of annoyance in the stranger's voice.

He was short and direct. He introduced himself as JYP and said that Hyunjin’s mother worked for him and that she was in a bad state at the hospital.

“You don’t have to go there if you don’t want to,” JYP said. “She would actually rather you don’t. But I thought you should know in case something bad happens.”

Hyunjin didn’t answer. JYP didn’t seem to expect him to.

“It was nice meeting you, Hwang Hyunjin. Have a good day.”

After that, he went silent. Hyunjin debated a lot before finally opening the door again. By the 'welcome' carpet, there was a piece of paper with the name of the hospital and address.

Hyunjin had no idea where it was, so he asked a neighbor — this friendly lady with three cats and a huge tree in the backyard. It was nearby, so he went on foot.

Upon arriving, Hyunjin gave them his mother’s name and asked to see her. The receptionist and a nurse exchanged glances.

They asked him his name, birthday and his mother’s birthday. After Hyunjin answered everything, he was led by a doctor through many white, bare corridors, and into a room that looked like a kitchen. Inside there were three other people in white, who were in the middle of eating and looked very alarmed by Hyunjin's presence. The doctor shooed them away.

When they were left alone, the doctor told him that his mom was seriously hurt. She was shot in the stomach and some important places were damaged, so they were trying to patch her up.  They were doing their best but she lost a lot of blood. However, he didn’t need to worry: she was reasonably stable and was probably going to recover well.  He didn’t tell Hyunjin any more details, just pat him in the head and told him to go back home.

Luckily, everything worked out and they soon let her go back. Hyunjin was waiting for her with welcome-home takeaway pizza and many questions.

Hyunjin was growing up, and he wasn’t stupid. He knew there was something weird going on, and she breathed very deeply before telling him.

She told him that she was a secret agent and that to most of the world, she didn’t even exist as the person Hyunjin knew.  Almost no one else knew some things, like her real name or birthday, and it had to be kept that way. She explained the risks of the job, about how she always had to keep away for a few extra days to ensure no one would find their address and get Hyunjin in danger.

She made him promise not to tell a single soul about it, and Hyunjin agreed without a second thought.

For some months they barely touched the subject again, until she suddenly decided to wake him up very early on a Saturday. She reached the conclusion he would never be truly safe by staying ignorant and defenseless and thus, decided to train him the same way she was when she just started.

And that meant going together on a jog very early in the morning to start getting his body in shape.

Hyunjin thought staying ignorant and defenseless was better than waking up every day before sunrise, but he took one look at how determined his mother was and decided not to say it.

She taught him mostly how to hold up in a fight and how to analyze the people around him, to keep an eye sharp for their intentions and actions. The most skilled people hid in plain sight, and they were dangerous. He needed to be always watching, always alert. 

For the next years, she trained him and, with a lot of insistence on Hyunjin’s part, also taught him how to use blades and the basics of shooting. When she saw how much affinity Hyunjin had with knives, she decided a small one disguised as a key would be a fun birthday gift.  It was a small thing, very convincing, and easy to overlook. Hyunjin carried it everywhere.

However, Hyunjin never really had any use for any of these things in his daily life.

He went to school, had to worry about his grades, and about the ever-growing issue that was popularity and self-esteem. People started noticing him for his looks at some point, and while at the beginning it made him happy, with time he realized that was the only thing they recognized him for.  So he worked hard at his mother’s training because it made him feel good — like him having this secret hobby gave him some kind of upper hand, gave him more character depth other than just being some pretty boy.

When he entered high school, his mother deemed him responsible enough to leave him alone for longer periods of time and started getting more assignments. She was then able to afford him a new phone and new clothes but he seldom saw her anymore. Hyunjin missed her but did his best to understand.

Hyunjin didn't really have any friends, despite how popular he was at school. So on his time by himself, Hyunjin decided to immerse himself in his mother’s work.

She had this laptop given to her by the company she worked for. It was heavily encrypted and hard to hack into but had access to a lot of classified data.  She trusted him enough to not change her computer’s password after he found it out, so he took the habit of going through her documents and emails to get to know more about this secret agent thing.

It was a cool job, to say the least. She was always risking her life for things that sounded very righteous, like catching a ring leader or uncovering drug dealers or whatever. It sounded like superhero stuff. His mother was really cool.

* * *

Hyunjin was fifteen and had just had dinner when he got a call while his mom was away on a mission. The ‘private number’ blinked at him from the screen. He picked it up hesitantly.

“... Hello?”

“Is this Hwang Hyunjin?” A familiar man’s voice said on the other line.

“Who is it?”

“It’s JYP. We’ve met some time ago, I don’t know if you remember.”

Of course Hyunjin remembered him. He wasn’t a person hard to forget.  Hyunjin also had a very bad feeling about it. Last time he had any kind of contact with this man, his mom almost died.

“I wanted to know if Eunkyung happened to come back home or contact you in any way on the last 48 hours,” JYP continued when Hyunjin didn’t respond.

“No, she didn’t. Why?”

JYP almost cursed but held himself in time. He quickly thanked him and hang up.

A feeling of dread spread through Hyunjin’s body. He spent some hours anxiously pacing around his house. He also tried to get some homework done when he decided he couldn’t just stay inside. He felt like he was suffocating.

Hyunjin took a jacket and his key-knife before heading out.

It was well into the night already, cool but not cold. He felt much better as he walked around the neighborhood, breathing deeply and soaking up the silence. Hyunjin wandered for almost two hours before deciding to make his way back home.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a car parked in front of his house. It wasn’t particularly shady like a white druggie van or whatever but he had never seen it around before. And it was too expensive, it looked very out of place in the middle of the neighborhood.

He was about to turn around and walk some more to evade going near the car when the back door opened and a man stepped out.

He had some grey hairs already on top of his head and he was dressed casually, looking generally unharmful. A shiver crawled up Hyunjin’s spine.

He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was it that put him on guard but he clenched the knife very tightly inside his pocket. He was frozen to the spot as the man approached him with slow steps, an easy smile on his face.

“Do you live here, boy?” the man asked.

Hyunjin didn’t say or do anything. He just apprehensively stared back, shoulders so tense his muscles were starting to hurt. Hyunjin was absolutely terrified.  His blood went cold when he saw the front door to his house open and two men clad in suits step out, holding paper-filled folders and an object he recognized as his mother’s computer. Hyunjin looked back at the man, who was silently appraising him from head to toe.

He managed to stop the repulse that threatened to show on his face. Instead, he racked his brain for ideas, for ways out.

It was obvious his mother was in trouble and presumably this man in front of him was the one to blame. What could he do? Just what…

“What is your business here?” Hyunjin praised himself for not letting his voice tremble or waver.

The man’s smile opened wider and Hyunjin had to fight back a full-body shudder at how wrong it felt.

“That’s a great question. But before I answer that, tell me something about you first.”

He stepped forward and Hyunjin instinctively stepped back.

“What is your relation with Hwang Eunkyung?”

_ Fuck. _

He knew his mom’s full name. And their address.

That was very, very bad.

This man was dangerous. But he didn’t seem to know who Hyunjin was. He finally understood why they never kept any photos or portraits hanging around at home. His mother was smart.

“I didn’t know that was her name,” Hyunjin replied in the most uninterested tone he could muster and pointed to the empty house across his own. “I live there, actually. My parents traveled somewhere and left me with her because apparently they  _ don’t trust me enough _ .”

“I see. Does she have a son?”

_ They went into my room. _

Hyunjin shrugged his shoulders.

“Yeah, he’s in college or some shit. I’m using his room for now.”

Hyunjin had a picture he was trying to put together: of the rebellious teenager who stayed on the street until late at night, whose parents didn’t trust enough to leave on his own, who didn’t give a shit about the woman who was kindly taking him in.

He got an idea by seeing the way the man’s eyes hovered on his lips and the hollow of his collarbones showing through the low neckline of his shirt. That man was into jailbait and that was gross but Hyunjin could make use of that.

Hyunjin pointed towards the car with his chin, a sleazy smile on his face.

“Nice thing you got there,” he said.

_ I need to get inside. Mom’s computer is there and I need to take it back. _

“Think you could take me for a drive?”

The man laughed at that but his eyes darkened when he looked back at Hyunjin.

“It’s late, but I guess we could drive around a little.”

Hyunjin’s hand was still tightly clenched around his knife. He followed the man to the car.

He had already fooled around with some people at school: behind the building or in the bathroom, and once or twice at the occasional party he went to. But never anything too serious.  Before the sun rose that day, however, Hyunjin lost his virginity on the back of an Audi that belonged to a man old enough to be his father, while two other men sat on the front seats as poised as statues.

They were slowly driving around town while everything was happening. The windows were dark but if anyone intently looked in, they could easily understand what was going on. Surprisingly, that wasn't what bothered Hyunjin. What did, instead, was the clear lack of control he has over the situation: it would only end when the man decided it would.

The sun was already lighting up the street when they finally drove back to Hyunjin’s house.

As he struggled a little to get dressed again, given the limited space on the back seat, Hyunjin saw how the man had his guard very low in comparison to before. He took the opportunity.

“I really like this,” Hyunjin said, pointing to a big designer bag shoved under the driver’s seat.

The man shot the object a quick look before replying.

“You can take it if you want. I was about to throw it away. Just leave here the plastic bag inside.”

Hyunjin bent down to retrieve the item, giving the man a display of his behind to distract him should he look over at the wrong time.

He thought he saw a glimpse of his mom’s folders and computer when he had his face pressed against the expensive leather seat. He pulled the bag, and sure enough there they were, hidden behind some articles of clothing and other objects.

“Can I take the wallet and jacket too?” Hyunjin asked over his shoulder.

The man waved him dismissively and asked the man sitting shotgun for a cigarette.

Hyunjin opened the expensive bag and removed the plastic one inside as the man instructed. He paused when he saw blue satin stained with red inside. He was already blocking the view with his entire body, so he quickly looked inside. Hyunjin could recognize the blouse he got his mother for her last birthday. He felt sick.

He threw the plastic bag to the side as if it meant nothing to him and shoved the computer and folders inside the big bag, along with the leather jacket and wallet he mentioned. Hyunjin still left some other clothes bundled up there, to hide the fact that they were no longer hiding anything.

“Did you get what you wanted there?” The man asked, blowing the smoke without bothering to open the windows.

“Yeah, I like them. Thank you.”

Hyunjin opened the door but before he stepped out, he turned to the man with a smirk on his face.

“Could I maybe be lucky to meet you again, Mr…?”

“I will find you if I want to see you again.”

Hyunjin nodded with a smile and got out of the car. They were clearly waiting for him to go inside the house before driving away, so he did just that. After he closed the door behind him, he counted three seconds before the car’s engine started, and then it was silent again.

Hyunjin knew it wouldn’t take long before they realized what he did. His bottom hurt given the minimal preparation he had, but he did his best to ignore the pain and hurry upstairs. He threw some clothes and necessities inside the biggest backpack he owned, along with his wallet, some food, the computer, and the folders.

His mother had a safe located behind her closet. It took Hyunjin a few tries but he managed to open it. He saw knives, a handgun, and some money she hid there in case an emergency occurred.

He took everything, closed the safe, and pushed the closet back in place. Hyunjin left the expensive bag and clothes lying carelessly around. As his habit, he made sure all the doors and windows were locked before leaving.

The sun was starting to warm up the morning air. Hyunjin closed his jacket, the wind was still a little cold.

He dropped his house keys in a sewer on the way to the subway station.

He didn’t have any idea for a destination, so he just took the first train that was passing by. He sat near the door. Hyunjin stayed still in blank nothingness for some time before the feeling of his own body started coming back to him.

First Hyunjin thought about how he could smell the strong cologne the man was wearing all over himself and it made his stomach churn. Then he got overly conscious of the bruises on his wrists and hips, could feel as if hands were still holding him down and pressing on his skin.

Only three people were sitting around him on the train but he couldn’t help but feel as if they all could see the deep teeth marks on his legs, or as if they all knew about how he allowed the semen of his mother’s killer to drip down his chin.

He wasn’t  _ prepared  _ for it. He didn’t really  _ want  _ it. He felt nothing for that man and he still let it happen.

Right now he wished he took a shower before leaving home, wanting nothing more than to scrub his skin raw until he only smelled like himself again. But no amount of scrubbing would get rid of the feeling of having being used like that.

Hyunjin knew he would never go back to feeling completely clean again.

Then the rest of the situation started sinking in, mixing with his already turbulent emotions. He tried to run over everything as rationally as he could.

Something obviously went very wrong in a mission and his mom was caught. She was probably murdered, and by the man he just gave his first time to nonetheless. And on their way to dispose of her bloody clothes (Hyunjin skipped the nauseating thought that her corpse could also be on the trunk or something) they decided to stop by her house to reap some extras in reward for her death.

Hyunjin started feeling very sick.

He got off on the next stop and wobbled to the bathroom. On the last stall, the most spacious one, he dropped his things on the ground and vomited on the toilet.

Outside the bathroom, rush hour started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, the chapters are getting longer and longer afsshauhhs my bad  
> Thank you all so, so much for all the kind comments! Also the kudos! It means a lot to know people are enjoying my writing.  
> I'll try to update chapter 8 faster, sorry about taking so long.


	8. Família

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunrise means new beginnings. Hyunjin was more than ready to turn a new chapter.

After a day just wandering the streets, Hyunjin showed up at the smallest orphanage he could find after a quick search on the internet. Maybe they should have asked for more details before taking him in but his tired and sickly pale appearance may have done the trick.

He gave them a random name, said he wasn’t able to bring his documents along and had nowhere else to go. They assumed he came from an abusive household or something similar and gave him some lunch and a small bed to sleep in. Hyunjin kept to himself, for the most part, only speaking when necessary, and everyone there gave him space.

Not even a full week later, his phone rang while he was busy doing the dishes. Hyunjin had an idea of who it was when he read ‘private number’ on the caller.

As he expected, it was that JYP dude yet again.

JYP used his most serious voice to tell Hyunjin his mother was unfortunately killed on field, gave his condolences (to which Hyunjin rolled his eyes), and without wasting much time, asked if Hyunjin could come over to the headquarters for a talk.

“Do you wanna get rid of me?” Hyunjin said with a hint of humor. “If that’s it, tell me and I can just do it myself. I don’t have money for the bus.”

“That’s not it, Hyunjin,” JYP sounded impatiently patient as he answered and Hyunjin wondered how he managed that. “Eunkyung was a great agent, and in respect to her efforts, we’re offering you protection. If you’re interested we can also give you training and implement you in The Agency. I’m sure we can find a spot in here for you”

“Hm…” Hyunjin wasn’t very enthusiastic about the idea. “What’s the name? Of this agency?”

“The Agency.”

“Uh, yeah, I understand that. But what’s the name?”

“It’s The Agency.”

Hyunjin was getting annoyed. It was a really bad moment for a joke.

“Listen, if you don’t wanna tell me just say it.”

“No, you’re not getting it. ‘The Agency’ is the name.”

Hyunjin took in the information and then frowned.

_ What the fuck, that’s so lame. _

“Ah, okay, I got it now,” he said instead. “Thanks for the offer but I’m not really interested.”

“What?” JYP was taken aback. “Why not?”

“It doesn’t sound very appealing. Is that all? Okay, I need to go now. Bye.”

Hyunjin didn’t wait for JYP to speak again and hang up.

He was pissed off.

JYP talked in such a condescending manner as if the world owed him a favor. But what use was he when his mom was out there being murdered?

And although he acted like Hyunjin was getting the opportunity of his life, it sounded like such a bad deal: being tied to a useless boss, having to report back every single step you take. Risking your life while the one who sent you there sits all nice and safe behind their desks — and doing it not because you wanted to or because you felt like it was the right thing to do, but because someone else ordered you to.

_ That’s ridiculous. _

The computer he had with him was most probably giving his location away to The Agency. Or maybe not, because it continued active and no one had come after him yet. Whatever was the case, Hyunjin didn’t give a shit and continued using it.

Let them come for him, he was sure he could shoot a bullet through at least one person before being taken down. He didn’t care if he was arrested or whatever they did with the people they caught. He didn’t have anything to lose.

Hyunjin was looking for the man that killed his mother. All else was secondary.

It wasn’t all that hard to find out who he was: Jung Kangmin, trader of organs on the black market with a surprisingly wide variety of customers. He usually found victims on homeless people, poor families that lived in slums outside the city or orphans he managed to snatch from places that required very little identification to adopt a child.

It wasn’t hard to find out where he was either since The Agency kept a tag on him at all times. Hyunjin couldn’t understand why no one did anything about him if they knew where he was. Bunch of useless people. _Of course_ he would have to do everything himself.

The biggest issue was actually _doing_ something.

Hyunjin didn’t care if he died in the process if he at least got to kill Kangmin first, but he didn’t have nearly enough experience to properly figure out the best way to proceed without fucking up. 

Hyunjin continued tracking Kangmin for some years but didn’t carelessly take action against him. Instead, he tried to acquire experience and finally put his mother’s teachings to use. All the while, he constantly moved locations to always ensure a safe distance from Kangmin and his people.

He found some odd jobs, learned valuable lessons, and became more knowledgeable about how to dodge being caught doing illegal things. It was some fun times.

As time went by, Hyunjin found people always lowered their guards if he bat his eyelashes and dropped his pants. He had a much easier time, so he stuck to that.

His first kill, however, was an accident.

It was one of his first jobs, a simple one to steal some bank passwords. But his plan went wrong. He said the wrong thing at the wrong moment and the woman turned on him. He panicked and grabbed the gun her husband kept in the drawer, then took a blind shot.

(Years later, he could never remember her face, only the open wound on her chest and her lifeless eyes.)

He immediately flew from the scene and only remembered to discard the gun when he was already fifteen minutes away. He threw it in the river, hoping it would be enough to wash away all evidence.

The happening left him shocked for weeks but life continued and he eventually had to get over it, just like he eventually forced himself to get over how long the ghost of people’s touches stayed on his skin.

The good thing about killing the first person was that the others were easy to follow. And that meant he could take on a wider variety of jobs.

Hyunjin spent time meticulously brushing up his techniques. He mostly avoided guns because they were hard to hide and too noisy but almost everything else was free game for him. He also learned well how to control his body language so people only saw what he wanted them to see. And it took him almost being exposed twice to learn the best way to cover his tracks.

It’s also worth mentioning that, in the middle of this mess, he somehow managed to graduate high school. It would forever be one of the achievements he was most proud of.

He, unfortunately, had to drop the private school he used to frequent back then and go to a public one, but it wasn’t bad at all, the place was nice. After, he managed to be accepted in an English Literature Degree course in Seoul. That allowed him to move in the campus’ accommodations at age 18.

What didn’t change, however, was that Hyunjin was always all by himself.

He dropped his friendships in high school as soon as he realized he was terribly misplaced among them. These people couldn’t relate to his kind of pain or sympathize with the blood in his hands.

It wasn’t their fault that their reality was so different from his but they would never know what kind of person he actually was. And eventually, he started thinking they were boring, dull. He didn’t feel the need to be close to them and didn’t miss their presence.

And life went on.

* * *

On his first day in college, Hyunjin decided to take a walk around after his last class to get familiarized with every crook and crevice on the campus corridors, just for the sake of safety.

It was late already when he started to head out, intending to go back to the dorms and finish unpacking his things. Everyone was already gone and the corridors were deserted, except for this one guy casually leaning on the wall. Hyunjin was about to past to go down the stairs when the guy looked up at him. Hyunjin stopped dead in his tracks.

He looked cool, with his blonde hair, and dressed casually all in black. He had a smile on his face and Hyunjin could see it was meant to soothe.

He felt anything but soothed at the moment.

Everything was wrong with the situation. The meeting was clearly deliberate on the guy’s part, and he had this infuriating look on his face that said he knew something Hyunjin didn’t. Hyunjin felt his instincts tingling at him to run.

The guy introduced himself as Bang Chan and tried to make small talk, which was very out of place given the tense atmosphere that hanged between them.

Hyunjin’s eyes didn’t leave the other’s for a single moment. The smile on Chan’s lips didn’t reach the rest of his face.

To his dismay, Hyunjin couldn’t take anything out from a first look. He didn’t have a way of knowing if Chan was deliberately showing only the things he wanted Hyunjin to see. It was clear Chan knew about his job, though. The only weird things that happened to him were because of his job, so it was a safe bet.

There was no way Hyunjin could go back to the dorms now. It was only a five-minute walk — not long, but he was well aware that five minutes on a deserted street were more than enough to do at least some sizeable damage. He wasn’t sure of what this  _ Bang Chan _ was capable of, so it would be stupid to take the risk.

Hyunjin walked to the wall on the other side and sat down.

There were at least four security cameras pointing at them right now, and the ones outside that spotted Chan walking in. There was no safer place than the one he was at the moment.

Chan looked very amused. He sat down as well.

At some point, the lights were turned off and they were left in complete darkness, save for a few odd lights on the corridor. And at no point did Hyunjin drop his guard. He fished his phone out of his jeans and pretended to entertain himself, but he was acutely aware of every movement Chan made.

The night passed by stressfully slow but they kept in complete silence until the morning came. It was barely 6 AM and Hyunjin’s battery was almost completely drained out when Chan finally got on his feet. He calmly stretched his arms up with a relieved groan.

“See you around, Hwang Hyunjin,” was the only thing he said before he walked down the stairs.

Hyunjin couldn’t take his mind off how satisfied Chan looked when he left. He wondered if that meant Chan managed to get what he wanted from their meeting.

Regardless of the answer, Hyunjin couldn’t just forget about it. This dude knew about him, which made him a threat, and threats couldn’t be left alone. He had to at least find out more about him to be able to keep tabs on his location and actions.

As soon as Chan vanished from sight, Hyunjin opened the browser on his phone. He first tried googling only ‘Bang Chan’, and predictably had no luck, what with over 300 various people with the same surname popping up. Then he decided to look up the list of admitted students on the university website. He looked over every year, from the most recent up to ten years ago, to try to find Bang Chan. And there was no one with that name.

He didn’t find it very odd. He could have been given a fake name, for all he knew.

Hyunjin, unfortunately, had classes very soon, so he couldn’t go back to the dorms and investigate yet. He decided on the second best thing, which was to look around while the classes were happening. He checked for Chan’s blond head in the middle of the mess of students walking around. He spent the entire day peeking in classrooms and asking teachers and classmates about the goth-skater-boy walking around. No one had ever heard about him, no matter what department he asked.

Hyunjin suspected that Bang Chan  _ could  _ be his real name but that he wasn’t a student at his university, instead. It took him almost an entire night of searching to find where Chan studied, with the sound of his roommate’s quiet snoring almost lulling him to sleep every few hours.

He would be in trouble if he had been given a fake name or if Chan didn’t actually attend college anywhere, none of which were the case, thankfully.

He couldn’t help but get to the conclusion that Chan wanted Hyunjin to find him again, that’s why he made it easy.

_ Let’s not disappoint him, then. _

* * *

The thing about Hyunjin was that he was dramatic.

He liked impacting performances, and Chan pissed him enough to make him want to  _ impact  _ him a lot. So no such thing as simply showing up at his classroom, no. He decided to follow Chan home.

Hyunjin knew he couldn’t afford to be sloppy this time, so he took extra care in his preparations and in the execution.

Chan took an overly complicated way home, meant to throw people off his track if there were any. Admittedly, Hyunjin lost sight of him somewhere after the third odd alley he walked in but managed to find him again relatively quickly and got him back on sight.

When Chan finally made way into some kind of main road again, Hyunjin stopped trying to hide. He started walking only some meters behind Chan, steps quiet as his habit.

It was a fairly busy street during the day. Not like Downtown but relatively busy. However, it was late already — past dinner time on a weekday — so there were almost no people walking around. And that meant Chan should have already turned around or done something to acknowledge his presence. Seeing that he still hadn’t shown any signs of such, Hyunjin got annoyed.

Chan was ignoring him.

_ What a prick. _

“Until when are you gonna do that?” he asked aloud after some frustrating minutes.

Chan paused in his steps. He turned around.

To his surprise, Chan had wide eyes when they looked at each other. He didn’t look smug or all-knowing like the other day.

Hyunjin caught him off guard.

That expression lasted no more than a second but it was enough to make Hyunjin’s ego inflate to a certainly unhealthy size. Chan then smiled, friendly, and pointed with his head towards a Lamen restaurant crossing the street. Hyunjin thought a little but nodded in the end.

Only after they were both settled and had already placed their orders, Chan started talking.

Apparently, Hyunjin had been building up quite a reputation for himself. All the descriptions were very vague but they were there: they were aware of his existence. And by  _ they _ , Chan meant some pretty dangerous people.

The other reason he was known about, was linked to none other than Jung Kangmin.

“It’s not always that a trained agent is killed the way your mom was,” Chan said as casually as one would mention the weather. “I don’t know if you know but it became quite a popular case with how brutal it was. No one can mention Jung Kangmin’s name without also talking about _Agent Pepper and the ten days he kept her captive, before finally killing her_. And on top of it all, he even broke in her residence afterward.”

He shook his head. Hyunjin impassively observed as Chan sipped his lemon soda.

“Kangmin took a computer with heavily classified data, to help expand his territory and influence. He went through all this trouble, got his name dirty like that, and then had it stolen right under his nose before he could even use it for anything.”

Chan huffed humorously. He looked relaxed, so Hyunjin found himself relaxing too. He was still focused on Chan’s words, though — these were all news to him. He had no idea news traveled like that and it was a little scary to see how accurate they were.

“It’s also a bit of common knowledge that you were the one who stole it from him. But no one really knew your mom’s real name, so it's not easy to find out exactly who you are. I took some years to finally find you, and you can bet it’s a matter of time until other people do, too.”

They had to pause as the waitress brought their food. Chan smiled at her while Hyunjin only nodded, focused.

“So there are people after me because of that,” Hyunjin finally spoke.

Chan hummed as he snapped his chopsticks apart. He was about to dig in his food when he looked up and saw the serious crease under Hyunjin’s eyes. Chan sighed and left his chopsticks aside.

“I wanna help you,” Chan looked Hyunjin in the eye, earnest, as he talked. “Your wits kept you afloat till now but as it is you’re too exposed. We’re lucky I got to you before anyone else did but luck is all it is. I can keep these guys away from your trail.”

“Yeah? What do you get from it?”

If there was one thing Hyunjin learned in his short life, was that nothing came for free.

Chan’s smiled, and this time it reached his eyes.

“Personal satisfaction.”

Then he started eating.

The rest of the meal went by in silence. Hyunjin didn’t give him any answer to his proposition and Chan looked as if he didn’t expect him to. Chan paid for their food and merely waved him goodbye as he continued making his way home.

A month went by. Hyunjin took on some jobs to pay for his course books and to buy his roommate a new pair of earphones after he accidentally stepped on his. All was peaceful and well — he had almost made himself forget about Chan’s words — until someone broke in his dorm room during the night and attempted to shoot him while he slept.

Hyunjin had a great sense for danger, luckily. He woke up as soon as the person stepped into the room. He managed to intercept the gun before it was fired and had to drag the person outside, to kill them silently or else his roommate could wake up.

The assassination attempt made him realize some things.

1: that everything Chan said was true — people were indeed after him and they were dangerous.

2: living somewhere for an extended period of time left him vulnerable, so he had to either get moving again or find somewhere safe.

And it all boiled down to:

3: he needed Chan’s help.

The third one got him reluctant but he couldn’t deny the fact that Chan had a great opportunity to murder him instead of warning him, and he didn’t do it. It had to count some points, at least.

Hyunjin waited for Chan in front of the same Lamen place they ate together. As expected, Chan showed up. And as expected, he looked very happy to see Hyunjin again.

The first thing Chan did was introduce Hyunjin to two of his friends.

One of them was a baby-faced boy named Lee Yongbok, or Lee Felix as it was his English name. He was this lean but strong boy, with a surprisingly deep voice.

Felix came to Korea all the way from Australia to study. He was from a modest but loving family and found a nice reminder of home in Chan, and they were also roommates.

He was witty, had a black belt at taekwondo, and was remarkable if given a pair of guns. He also had these really cute freckles but unfortunately had to hide them behind heavy makeup — freckles were very distinctive in Korea and it kinda blew up his anonymity.

They got along well with little to no hiccups. Felix was shy at the beginning but very playful once he started to get comfortable. He was cuddly and also a very good listener. Hyunjin liked to spend time with him. Felix was a stable presence, and it gave Hyunjin a relief from the lone, tension-filled life he lived so far.

The other one was Jisung.

Now, Hyunjin and Jisung didn’t get along at all in the beginning. Yes, Jisung was this genius who was really good with tech or whatever, and who could throw some good kicks and punches if needed. And  _ yes _ , he was a little funny and seemed like an overall chill guy. And he always had food at hand.

But they just didn’t click.

It could be the way he talked to Hyunjin like he was stupid, or the way he left his clothes everywhere, or the fact that he never had a phone charger with him. Whatever it was, there was something about Jisung that annoyed Hyunjin profoundly.

They couldn’t spend five minutes near each other without arguing about something very frivolous. They almost killed each other plenty of times too. Felix put on his headphones and turned on some game on his phone every time they started yelling over stupid things.

And Chan. Well, he wasn’t the asshole Hyunjin first thought he was. He was very warm and understanding. He made bad jokes and made sure no one skipped their meals. He was also terribly awful at keeping track of time, which Hyunjin found out after Chan spent almost twelve hours trying to fix Felix’s PSP without taking a single break (it continued broken afterward but the effort was recognized).

Hyunjin knew all of these things only because he decided to risk some change in his life.

He decided to stay.

The reason was simple: they were the first people in his entire life who Hyunjin could finally feel some kind of connection to.

Felix and Jisung were both hitmen. No one gave any details as to how anything came to be, and Hyunjin understood — he himself wasn’t ready yet to talk about his past either. They both, with Chan’s assistance, had been working together for some time now and had a pretty high success rate in their jobs.

Hyunjin would rather die than say that, but he even felt a connection to Jisung — irritating Jisung, who Hyunjin tried to throw out of the balcony once for some reason he couldn’t remember, and who in retaliation ripped all the shirts Hyunjin had just bought.

Their little war continued until Chan convinced the three of them to try working together. In the beginning it was a nightmare but after constantly being in each other’s company, at some point Hyunjin and Jisung eventually got around their differences.

Although Jisung never failed to make him remember the big scar running from his knee up to his hip that Hyunjin gave him after a particularly intense fight they had. In return, Hyunjin reminded him of the entire semester he lost at his course because Jisung changed all his scores to low ones and had him repeat everything.

But yeah, somehow they started getting along.

Hyunjin actually started to genuinely like Jisung, when he realized maybe he wasn’t that bad. But again, he would rather die than admit it.

Hyunjin was still in the process of getting used to the extra company, both at work and in his personal life when Lee Minho came along.

Chan apparently had a habit of picking up strays — maybe he liked the feeling of taking care of unlucky children, who knew. 

Minho took a longer time than Hyunjin to figure out what he was going to do. The poor boy was lost and traumatized, but he seemed to have a strong will and Hyunjin liked that.

Minho took his time in learning more about them all, even if he still seemed overall uncomfortable. Two months in and he still had barely said a word about himself but for some reason, he also decided to stay.

They welcomed him well, and at the positive reaction, Minho decided to talk about himself for the first time.

Minho told them he came from a very poor family, who sold him to some shady brothel when he was still a teen. He never got to finish school, instead being locked away and made to sell his body every day for some people who didn’t even care to know his name.

He managed to escape by dumb luck.

He had always been kept inside, under strict vigilance, but for the first time they sent him off for a night for a party of rich businessman in Seoul. On the way there, he saw the opportunity and seized it: he jumped out of the moving car and ran. He ran as fast as he could, for as long as his legs could carry him before he collapsed. 

Chan found him bruised and alone in the middle of trash bags and cigarette butts and decided to take care of him.

Then, Minho told them that he wanted to join in whatever work they did. Hyunjin didn’t think Minho necessarily wished to start committing crimes left and right — he probably just wanted to integrate more with them and feel more like a part of their group.

They all taught Minho some things in order to get him suited for such a life-endangering job. He learned pretty fast and for some reason picked up on Hyunjin’s work method.

Hyunjin was hesitant to agree, given Minho’s past experiences, but if he wanted to do it let him do it. He would have to be a hypocrite to deny Minho of that.

Minho absorbed what Hyunjin gave him, tweaked it, and transformed it into something so him that it was almost cute. The only thing he didn’t really like was killing people. Hyunjin could do that dirty part, though, he didn’t mind.

It took time, some fights, and a lot of patience from Chan, but eventually the engines started working smoothly and they were honestly unstoppable. They needed some small missions to properly get in sync but it wasn’t that hard. They all agreed on not wanting to get attached to any kind of official service since their methods were a little frowned upon by most people and they weren’t willing to change what was already working. Too troublesome.

The turning point for them, that got them to stop feeling so much like colleagues and more like actual friends, was their first Big Job. Given by none other than Chan himself.

It wasn’t anything but a single name, Jung Kangmin.

It didn’t matter how. Just end him. Do whatever you want.

Hyunjin decided to open up about his story with the boys. They all listened very attentively, not even Jisung cracked a single joke about it all. A somber look hovered over their faces, especially Minho’s, and he was the one who broke the silence:

“And how do you wanna do it?”

“I…” Hyunjin hesitated. “I wanna do it myself.”

Minho nodded. He thought for a moment, then grinned.

“You’re brave,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to dig my past like that.”

Hyunjin smiled back.

He actually had some kind of plan in mind already. He would be lying if he said he never thought about how he would kill Kangmin if he had the chance.

Jisung got his hands on the blueprint of Kangmin’s house, which he looked extra proud about when he showed it to them. Since Kangmin already knew his face and most probably blacklisted him already after his theft, Hyunjin decided for a different approach: He was going to sneak in during the night, terrorize Kangmin a little, and then kill him. He could barely wait.

* * *

It was well after midnight when they gathered at the small road leading to Kangmin’s house. Minho and Chan arrived late, Hyunjin a second away from jumping over the gate.

“Why did you two take so long?” Jisung asked, lollipop between his fingers.

“We went to the convenience store on the way here,” Chan explained, and  Hyunjin finally saw the plastic bag Minho was carrying.

“And what did you buy?” he asked.

“Strawberry milk,” Minho replied.

“What? Why?”

Minho shrugged.

“Figured we could celebrate after the asshole is terminated.”

“I thought people celebrated with alcohol,” Jisung said in good humor. “Why didn’t you get beer?”

The smile Minho gave him was measured and superficial. Hyunjin decided he hated that smile.

“I don’t drink,” Minho simply said and plopped down next to Felix.

Jisung looked awkward. It was obvious he didn’t mean to make Minho uncomfortable but before he could say anything, Chan piped up.

“I brought a blanket!” His voice was light-hearted. Hyunjin appreciated him for it. “In case you take too long. It’s cold out here.”

“Will you take long?” Minho asked instead.

“I’m not sure,” Hyunjin admitted. “I don’t think so, but it depends on how he’s gonna behave.”

Minho nodded.

“We're gonna wait for you here,” Felix said. "Yell if you need help."

Hyunjin smiled at that. It was nice to have people covering your back.

He jumped over the gate.

* * *

Kangmin was sleeping soundly when Hyunjin slipped in through the window. Hyunjin put a small pill on his tongue and climbed over the sleeping man. Hyunjin locked lips with him, passing the pill onto his mouth and tipping his head up to make him swallow. He kept his eyes fixed on Kangmin, hovering over him as the man slowly woke up. He wanted to see up close what his reaction would be.

And it was so gratifying.

Kangmin took some sleepy seconds to realize what was going on, but all color drained from his face when he recognized Hyunjin.

“I take you already know what I’m doing here,” Hyunjin said in the most saccharine voice he could muster.

Hyunjin pulled a small knife and lightly traced Kangmin’s face with the edge. He waited a little for a reply but slid a clean cut on Kangmin’s jawline when he took a second too long.

“You want revenge!” Kangmin squealed. “For your mother.”

Hyunjin hummed. Kangmin shakily continued talking, trying to postpone whatever was coming his way.

“I looked you up, you know? After that day. You really fooled me, I didn’t know you were her-”

“Did I, now?”

His voice was soft but it made Kangmin go dead quiet.

“So,” Hyunjin finally locked eyes with the man, “can a poor fool like you guess how I’m about to take my revenge?”

Hyunjin put the tip of the knife to Kangmin’s throat, putting pressure on it. Kangmin slid up the wall to try to get away and Hyunjin followed his movement, crawling over his legs much like a cat would.

“You don’t have any security,” Hyunjin continued. “You live in this pretentious mansion sights away from the next house. You made it really simple for me.”

Hyunjin smiled.

Kangmin started trembling at the cruel glint on the curl of Hyunjin’s lips. The smile widened.

“Let’s have a little fun then.”

He leaned back on his heels and waited.

Hyunjin counted to ten, then Kangmin abruptly shoved his covers off and attempted to run for the door. Hyunjin waited until he reached the doorknob to throw the knife on his hand, effectively interrupting his escape. Kangmin clutched his hand as he screamed in pain.

In light but quick steps, Hyunjin crossed the distance between them and pressed Kangmin’s back against the door. Kangmin looked terrified, and the fear grew bigger as Hyunjin stepped closer until their faces were almost touching.

“Did you know,” Hyunjin’s voice was airy, “that we have a really big vein running through our thigh?”

Hyunjin pressed a hand against Kangmin’s groin and smirked when the man tensed. He pulled another knife from under his clothes and dug the blade in, inches away from where his other hand was shoved against the man’s front. Kangmin screamed again but quickly tried to shut himself up at Hyunjin’s gleeful look.

“It’s right here, near your cock. If you don’t receive treatment in the next 10 minutes, your body will start to collapse.”

Hyunjin watched as the man’s face morphed in despair. He waited for a few seconds before stepping away and pulling a chair from the desk next to the door. Kangmin’s whole body was tense as Hyunjin gracefully sat down, smile never leaving his face.

It took almost a minute of staring for Kangmin to realize Hyunjin wasn’t going to get up from the chair, and he tried to open the door again. He did manage to get it open, but before he could step outside, his body froze in the spot. He slowly fell against the door, legs giving up on him. 

Hyunjin could see by the way the shivering stopped that the drug was finally taking effect: his muscles weren't responding to him anymore.

“I don’t usually like bloody crime scenes but I decided to make an exception this time,” Hyunjin said with overly sweet enthusiasm, crossing his legs as he made himself comfortable. “I thought all this out just for you. Aren’t you a lucky one?”

Hyunjin giggled, delighted at the desperation he could see on the other’s eyes.

The bloodstain on the carpet was quickly growing in size. As promised, little more than 10 minutes later all life left his body. And with that, a weight was lifted from Hyunjin’s heart.

* * *

The sun was rising. The five of them were taking a walk along the river as they watched the sky change colors. Felix was using the blanket Chan brought and they were all drinking their strawberry milk, Jisung already on his third.

Hyunjin took a deep breath. He felt lighter than ever.

He hoped his mother felt avenged, from wherever she was, and that she could rest well now.

He didn’t realize he stopped walking until Felix stopped behind him to bump his forehead on his back to get his attention.  Hyunjin guessed he would tap him on the shoulder had he not been so tightly wrapped in the blanket.

Hyunjin looked up to find everyone looking at him. They all looked different levels of concerned and supportive. If he had to guess, Hyunjin would say that Chan was less than five seconds away from cracking some dad joke to get their attention back on track.

He really loved his new friends. It was nice, so nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if you noticed but now we have 11 chapters here. I was proofreading chapter 8 and realized I created a 30 page monster and I had to split it in two.  
> I hope the odd number doesn't tick you off. Bc it's ticking me off. Badly.  
> I had a total of 10 chaps (a very round number, very satisfying). Now I fucked it up for the sake of organization. FUck me.
> 
> And did I insist on a stupid name like 'The Agency' just so I could make this joke? Absolutely.


	9. Movie Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blankets and cuddles and popcorn. And also some confrontation to spice things up.

It was Movie Night. It was as always: blankets and pillows scattered around, about three completely unrelated movies lined up, and boxes with the remaining pizza they had for dinner cooling down on the kitchen counter. The only difference, though, was that this time Seungmin was there too.

Like usual, Seungmin only said he was coming over when he was already on his way. Hyunjin had finished getting dressed and was getting the snacks he was supposed to bring when Seungmin arrived. Feeling bad that Seungmin went all the way there on such a cold day, Hyunjin ended up inviting him along. He was sure none of the guys would mind, they were chill people and they were chill with Seungmin.

So that’s how they ended up. Jisung and Minho were sprawled out in a tangle of limbs, on a big mattress they always brought out for Movie Nights. Felix, Hyunjin, and Seungmin were on the couch. Chan and Woojin went out on a date of their own, so they weren't present. Chan emphasized it would be just this one time, and said something about _the_ _downsides of having children_ before they went out holding hands.

It felt like Seungmin had always been part of their group.

Hyunjin snuggled closer to Seungmin and heard Felix protesting on his other side about the gummies now being out of his reach. Seungmin giggled and took the bag from Hyunjin to hand it to Felix. One frowned at him and one smiled.

Hyunjin dropped his pout when Seungmin’s hand, which had gone behind him to intervene in the snacks issue, found a place on his shoulder instead of retreating to the warmth of the blanket. _Smooth, very smooth._

Hyunjin could feel Felix throwing an amused glance at them but ignored it in favor of getting comfortable in Seungmin’s hug.

After the first time, it became easy to call Seungmin for the next Movie Nights. Seungmin often stayed over at his house, so they just went together. Jisung took the opportunity of an extra member to start ordering an extra pizza as if Seungmin even ate that much by himself. Hyunjin told him as much, and Jisung just shrugged and said they could eat it in the morning too, no biggie.

The only hiccup was the first time Woojin showed up after Seungmin started coming to the Movie Nights, which happened in the third week.

Seungmin stiffened where he was leaning against Hyunjin, and sat up straight when he saw Woojin crossing the door. Minho snorted at that and took a big sip of his Cola, then immediately choked on it. Jisung unhelpfully rubbed his back, cackling, while Minho gasped for air.

Hyunjin could see that Seungmin was trying to act normal as Woojin stretched comfortably on the mattress on the floor. In the middle of the first movie, Seungmin slowly started to relax where he was leaning against Hyunjin. After it ended, he even made an offhand joke about needing to call a nanny to watch over Jeongin at the HQ, to which Woojin laughed around the chips he was putting in his mouth. The good response helped Seungmin in becoming comfortable once again. Hyunjin saw Chan smiling at the side.

Suddenly, a question popped up in Hyunjin’s head. He side-eyed Seungmin’s profile. The room was dark apart from the television, so the colorful lights cast on his face made his features seem shaper, although the relaxed expression took the edge away. Hyunjin felt a rush of affection run through him.

He decided to ask later.

* * *

“Why don’t you ever call your friends too?”

Seungmin stopped where he was looking for his phone and raised his head.

“What?”

It was morning. Minho and Jisung were still snoring together. Felix was curled up in a ball on one side of the sofa with Chan sprawled on the other. And Woojin rolled off the mattress at some point and was on the floor, enveloped with the thick blanket. Hyunjin had also been sleeping soundly on the other sofa, but since he was cuddled up to Seungmin, when the latter woke up he did too.

Hyunjin was still lying down, all covered up, only his head peeking out to talk to Seungmin. Their voices were quiet.

“To these movie nights," Hyunjin clarified. "Your friends seem nice, I think it would be fun.”

Seungmin looked confused by the question and Hyunjin got confused by his confusion. What was the problem? It was a very simple question.

They looked at each other for some moments before some sort of understanding crossed Seungmin’s face.

“Oh, you mean Changbin and Jeongin?”

“Uuh, yeah? Who else?”

Hyunjin’s tone and look expressed that it was already obvious, but Seungmin fell back into nonchalance instead of being embarrassed.

“Woojin hyung has been coming here since forever and never called any of us,” Seungmin reasoned and went back to moving slippers around to try to find his phone.

“It’s different, he’s your boss. He thinks you guys are scared of him. Of course he wouldn’t.”

“You don’t think he’s scary because you’ve never seen him angry at work.”

“He’s your _boss_ , he's supposed to be strict. On the other hand, you three are pretty close to each other, aren’t you? You’ve been a fixed unit for some time now.”

“We’re not exactly friends.”

“Why do you think so?”

“I don’t know much about them,” Seungmin shrugged. “Or they about me. We also never spend time together outside of work.”

“So what are you guys to each other?”

“Colleagues, I guess.”

“Hm…”

Hyunjin pouted in a pensive manner and turned his eyes to the side.

He was a little disappointed, but not surprised.

He was good at observing people, and he noticed that Seungmin held both Changbin and Jeongin in a weird place in his life. He just wanted Seungmin to see how much it didn’t make sense for him to do that.

“Funny,” Hyunjin muttered, moving further under the blanket as if he planned to sleep again. “I don’t think _‘just colleagues’_ would risk their lives like they did for you. You know, when you guys took Seungri down. It wasn’t about work or anything. It was because they wanted to help you when you were too busy being a sad bitch.”

“I wasn’t being a sad bitch.”

Apart from the pouty protest, which sounded more tentative than anything, Seungmin didn’t say anything else. Hyunjin didn’t expect him to but kept quiet for a few more seconds so his words could properly sink in.

“It’s just a thought,” he then said in a seemingly dismissive manner that was nothing but. “You’re the one who knows more about your relationship with them, anyway, I’m just an outsider.”

The silence that followed made Hyunjin wonder, not for the first time and certainly not for the last, what went on Seungmin’s head.

Seungmin found his phone after two more minutes and headed to the kitchen to get some leftover pizza for breakfast. Hyunjin waited for the door to fully close and the room to be quiet again, apart from the regular breathing and occasional snore.

“You could have done something about it yourself, you know, hyung,” Hyunjin said and glanced at Chan.

Chan opened his eyes, with the clarity of someone who had been wide awake for some time now. He had a soft smile on his face.

“Seungminnie doesn’t like it when I interfere in his stuff,” Chan said simply and stretched his body, careful not to kick Felix. “He thinks it’s weird when I talk about things he’s never told me, so I just wait for him to come to me if he needs something.”

“Has he ever?”

“Not directly, no. He always tries to do everything by himself.”

Hyunjin snorted.

“Yeah, he can be stubborn sometimes.”

Chan laughed too and Hyunjin thought that was the end of the talk. Hyunjin started feeling sleepy again, cozy under the blanket when Chan’s voice sounded again.

“So… you and Seungminnie, huh?”

Hyunjin took a moment to register Chan’s teasing tone. When he did, he raised his head from where he had curled over.

“What about us?”

“Don’t be like that, Jinnie. You know what I’m talking about.”

“Well, if you’re talking about us sleeping together, we are.”

“And…?”

He stared at Chan. After a beat, Hyunjin understood what Chan meant and felt his face heating up. Hyunjin rolled his eyes at the way Chan wiggled his eyebrows at him.

“Hyung, it’s just sex,” he got out, trying to will his blush away. “Me and Minho hyung were also fucking before he and Jisung got together, you know how it is.”

“What about you two sharing snacks earlier? Oh, and watching the entire movie while hugging each other? And the little forehead kisses he keeps giving you? And-”

“Hyung!”

Hyunjin’s voice raised from how flustered he got, and he immediately interrupted himself before he woke up the other boys.

“Hyung,” he tried again, back to a quiet tone. “Stop that. He’s just clingy, that’s all.”

Chan’s smile only widened and he shook his head.

“No, he’s not,” Chan said. “Jinnie, if he _patted_ me in the shoulder twice during this entire time I’ve known him, it’s a lot. Trust me, he’s never been the clingy type.”

Now it was Hyunjin’s turn to be stunned into silence. He grumbled some nonsense and burrowed deeper under the blanket. He planned to stay there until his thoughts stopped spinning but the kitchen door opened again and Seungmin’s voice called.

“Hyunjin, do you wanna eat something too?”

Hyunjin ignored the knowing look Chan gave him and stood up.

“Yeah, but don’t worry, I’ll get it.”

If he couldn’t sleep again, might as well finish those pepperoni pizzas before lunchtime. Bless Jisung and the eight pizzas he ordered last night.

* * *

Chan got him thinking. A lot.

Hyunjin didn’t like it much.

Sometimes the things Chan put in his head were for a good cause. Like when he convinced Hyunjin to learn some programming from Jisung because going undercover meant he had to be prepared to solve any kind of unexpected situations — it _did_ come in hand once or twice, so sometimes he had good advice.

But this, really, just made him sad.

Hyunjin knew he was handsome, or even beautiful as he heard many times. He knew he was somewhat funny and that his presence wasn’t unpleasant, because if it was no one would stand to spend time with him. He knew his friends — his _family_ — genuinely liked him for him. But, romantic love? Someone wanting to stay with him for the rest of their lives? Someone wanting to make love to him and not just fuck?

Yeah, okay.

The only time Hyunjin voiced these thoughts to anyone was on that one breakdown he had with Seungmin. However, they never addressed it again and so Hyunjin pretended it didn’t happen. He knew it was hypocritical to think that about himself and exclude someone who did the exact same things he did, like Minho.

For some reason, Hyunjin never squared Minho in the same category as him.

In the beginning, he was indeed a little thrown off when Minho and Jisung announced they were officially dating. He never really understood how someone could just look past all the things one does and people one touches and has a healthy and loving relationship. But Jisung and Minho somehow made it work. Hyunjin was happy with their happiness, so he just got to the conclusion that he didn’t need to understand something for it to be real.

Overtime, Hyunjin began to accept that maybe he was the only one a little too crooked. He hammered that into his head until he started to take it as a fact and not as a twisted point of view. Maybe you could say Hyunjin got so used to being used that he barely saw himself as a human being anymore.

That being said, it was crazy to assume Seungmin wanted anything more than sex with him. The idea was a whole blank chapter to him, and the unknown has always been scary no matter what kind of life you live. Hyunjin felt it was safer to waltz away whenever his thoughts wandered too close to these dangerous grounds.

And what Chan did was weigh him down so he couldn’t go too far from these thoughts, couldn’t escape. And the more he thought, the more he realized.

Realized that he enjoyed Seungmin’s company far too much, that he felt safe and warm with him in a way he never felt before, that his heart skipped a beat whenever Seungmin dropped a kiss on the crown of his head. Realized that he couldn’t work anymore without being reminded of Seungmin and comparing every person to him: their bodies, their touches — the caring attentiveness that sometimes gave place to rough attitude and the way everything drove Hyunjin crazy.

Every single aspect of his life was flooded by Seungmin.

Hyunjin absolutely refused to say _that_ word, though. If he didn’t say it, maybe it could become less real.

The realizations didn’t stop Hyunjin from indulging. He took those moments of happiness as preciosities, as he didn’t know when Seungmin would find someone more worthy of his time and leave. The thought tugged painfully at his strings, but Hyunjin knew that when the time came he wouldn’t be able to wish anything but the best for Seungmin.

Maybe he was stupid like that.

* * *

Two Saturdays later, Seungmin and Hyunjin were killing some time before they left for another Movie Night when Seungmin got a call. It wasn’t unusual, so Hyunjin didn’t pay it much mind until Seungmin got up from where they were lounging around on the couch. Hyunjin turned an inquisitive glance at Seungmin.

“Stay where you are, I'll go get you,” was the only thing he said.

Seungmin kissed Hyunjin's cheek, before putting on his shoes and quickly leaving.

Hyunjin had a mouthful of cookies so he didn’t get a chance to say anything. He thought about texting to ask but he didn’t want to be annoying.

Hyunjin turned back to the television and managed to stay seated until the commercials, which was when he decided he couldn’t stay still. It was more than half an hour before the time he was supposed to leave but screw it.

Woojin was the only one there when he arrived (apart from the owners of the house), and Hyunjin greeted him very distractedly due to his curiosity coupled with anxiousness.

_Did something happen? Maybe an emergency? Seungmin would tell me if he couldn’t come for whatever reason, right?_

Eventually, Chan and Felix arrived as well. This time Woojin was craving fried chicken and Felix really wanted tteokbokki, so they had a longer discussion than usual before ordering the food. It hadn’t been three minutes since they ordered it when the doorbell rang.

Hyunjin had a delirious moment where he thought their dinner had already arrived, then Woojin unlocked the door and Seungmin entered with two other boys in tow.

Oh.

Of course, Hyunjin was freaking out again for absolutely no reason.

It was much better than some life-threatening emergency. Also a little unexpected. But a good kind of unexpected.

One of them Hyunjin recognized as Seo Changbin, and the other was a boy with dark hair and deep dimples on his cheeks. He had to be Jeongin, skinnier than Changbin and Seungmin, with shiny foxy eyes. He looked around curiously and really, he was adorable.

“Guys, these are Jeongin and Changbin,” Seungmin said, shutting the door after them. “Sorry we took so long, _someone_ got lost on their way here.”

Seungmin threw a pointed look at Changbin, who frowned back.

Changbin had a scary aura around him, probably because of his eyes — he had an intense gaze. He looked intimidating for an entirety of five seconds after entering, then he broke in an embarrassed whine.

“C’mon, it’s not my fault all the streets look the exact same around here.”

“You weren’t even around this neighborhood,” Seungmin whined back. “You went further than my house and I live half an hour from here. You’re lucky Jeongin decided to call you or else you’d still be walking in the wrong direction.”

“I just got lost because I couldn’t read the street signs.”

“Why didn’t you wear your glasses then?”

“They fog up when it’s cold. My choices were to either be blind in white or be blind in low resolution.”

“Just admit you didn’t wear them because they don’t match the gangster concept you chose today,” this time it was Jeongin that spoke, with a roll of eyes that had no real heat behind it.

“Sounds like something only a person with perfect eyesight would say.”

“Wow, I’m so offended.”

“You lack _empathy_ , Jeongin.”

Seungmin laughed at them, shaking his head. Then he turned to Hyunjin, whose heart sped up. Not for the first time, he asked himself how long it would be until he stopped feeling as if every smile Seungmin gave him was the first one.

“Innie!”

The rest of the guys started gathering from wherever they were around the house. The first to arrive was Chan, who smiled brightly when he saw the youngest. Jeongin beamed in return.

“Hyung! It’s been such a long time.”

Chan stepped forward to hug Jeongin, and Felix and Jisung looked on curiously.

“You must be Changbin, then?” prompted Minho as he stepped out the kitchen, soda can in hand.

Minho pulled the newcomers to situate them around the apartment. Hyunjin took this opportunity to grab onto Seungmin and snatch a spot on the couch, immediately pulling his legs up on Seungmin’s lap. Seungmin was warm even though he had just been outside in the chilly weather.

“Jin, I have to pee,” Seungmin laughed at the way Hyunjin was already getting comfortable but supported him by the back nonetheless.

“No, you don’t,” Hyunjin responded in a bossy voice. “You lost human rights the moment you made me walk alone all the way here.”

Seungmin softened at his pout and brought up a hand to brush Hyunjin’s hair from his face. His bangs were getting long to the point it was constantly falling over his eyes.

“Sorry about that,” he said, a small apologetic smile on his face. “I promise it was just today. I’ll make Changbin wear his glasses next time.”

“You better. It was cold. And dark. And lonely. What if someone had tried to rob me?”

“So dramatic,” Felix sighed as he walked over with his snacks.

Hyunjin childishly showed his tongue to Felix, who responded in the same way.

“I’m sure you’d be able to kick anyone’s ass if they tried to rob you,” Seungmin said.

“Of course I can but you’re missing the point here.”

“I’m not, I swear.”

Seungmin giggled when Hyunjin shoved his face on the crook of his neck, humming curtly in mock sadness and inhaling his scent. Seungmin showered little before leaving, so he smelled like the citrus shampoo he had over at Hyunjin’s house.

“Am I forgiven?”, Seungmin asked and then kissed his head.

Hyunjin only managed to get out a few agreeing grunts but they seemed to be enough for Seungmin, who smiled widely.

“Thank you for your kindness,” he said, to which Hyunjin only nosed again into his neck, “but I really need to pee, get off me just for a minute.”

Hyunjin reluctantly pulled away and let Seungmin rush to the bathroom. He put his legs back to the spot Seungmin had been occupying so no one else sat there. He accepted the banana-shaped gummies Felix was offering from his place on the mattress. Chan sat down too and put some chocolate bars on Felix’s lap, then also took some gummies. Hyunjin felt someone looking at him.

In front of the kitchen door, where Minho was pointing towards the cabinets and explaining where everything was, Changbin met his eyes. He wasn’t distrusting like the last time. He looked, instead, like he finally connected the dots about something.

Hyunjin decided not to think much of it.

Soon Seungmin sat down again and they went back to cuddling.

Jisung showed up victorious from a discussion he was previously having on the side with a now defeated Woojin. Jisung didn’t take his eyes off the screen of the laptop he was carrying.

“So, which do you wanna watch first?” Jisung asked loudly and everyone fell quiet and looked at him. “Lesbian Vampire Killers or Bleach Live Action?”

Woojin shook his head in exasperation. A few seconds passed as the question was assimilated, and Felix was the first to speak.

“What the fuck?”

“Language,” Woojin and Seungmin censored at the same time and Jeongin looked at them very amused.

“Last time Hyunjin made me sit through Bring It On... what was even the whole title?” Jisung squinted at the screen. “ _Bring It On: Worldwide #Cheersmack_. Jesus Christ… I _am_ making you all watch shit movies today.”

“Well, take it out only on him then,” Minho frowned as he peeked in the living room. “It wasn’t our fault.”

“It wasn’t _that_ bad,” Hyunjin weakly objected.

“It was really bad,” Felix snorted. “The radioactivity was strong in that one.”

“ _Cheersmack_ is a really stupid word,” Minho agreed, coming closer to where they were sitting with Changbin and Jeongin close behind. “The entire movie was stupid, actually.”

“Nothing beats the art that is the first Bring It On. The others can try, but they'll always be the others.”

“Even if it was bad,” Hyunjin rolled his eyes at the absolute lack of support from them. “Watching the live-action Bleach is overkill, _that_ is actual garbage.”

“Or the Death Note movie,” Chan piped up.

“Ooh, good idea!” Jisung praised excitedly. “So we’ll watch Bleach first and then Death Note.”

Felix slapped Chan in the arm for opening his mouth, to which Chan awkwardly smiled back.

“We already have no brain cells left, either way,” Minho sighed in resignation. “Let’s destroy that half brain cell we have left and get it over with.”

* * *

Jeongin and Changbin behaved much as Seungmin did at the beginning, meaning they kept quiet and tried not to take up much space. Hyunjin guessed that was a standard response to being put in a new environment with new people. He also guessed Woojin kinda intimidated them too but he was sure they would get around it sometime.

Even so, they seemed friendly and nice enough, so they were invited to the next Movie Night.

Next Saturday was much easier to interact and it turned out they fit very well in their group.

Jeongin was mischievous and a little mouthy, but he was also a precious baby and thus was mostly excused from having to deal with the consequences of his actions. Changbin surprisingly was also a baby but he didn’t know that or just didn’t want to admit. He also liked giving head pats, Hyunjin and Felix liked receiving head pats, so that was nice too.

Hyunjin attributed the easiness with which Jeongin and Changbin integrated into his life to Seungmin. Maybe it was the stories that he heard all the time that already made him feel like he already knew them. Or — a much more complex alternative that implied many more things — allowing Seungmin to get this close to him, the first person after he settled with his team, might have been a turning point to him. Maybe Hyunjin was _finally_ allowed to move chapters in his life.

He still didn’t know where they stood with each other if he were honest. Seungmin was opening himself to Hyunjin more and more but he was still a little cryptic. For example, Hyunjin still doesn’t get what exactly happened for Seungmin to suddenly change his mind about inviting Changbin and Jeongin to hang out with everyone, or what even was happening before that for Seungmin to refuse to hang out with the both of them.

This little confusion on his part was what propelled Hyunjin to seek Changbin. It wasn’t a Movie Night but at some point, everyone just naturally started gravitating towards each other when they had free time. So Jisung, Changbin, and Hyunjin this time somehow ended up at the Aussies’ place.

Jisung, Changbin, and Chan had a lot in common. Hyunjin wasn’t sure of what exactly they had in common but they did, and Changbin’s presence was what made them found it out; so they were spending a lot of time together lately. At the moment, they were locked up in Chan’s room while Hyunjin and Felix played Just Dance on the Xbox.

Five minutes after Felix had excused himself for a shower, Changbin emerged from Chan’s room. Hyunjin tried to curiously peek in from his place on the couch but didn’t see anything too interesting going on, disappointingly. He followed Changbin to the kitchen.

“Hyung.”

“Hm?”

Changbin kept looking at the contents of the fridge but Hyunjin knew he was paying attention.

“How has Seungmin been lately?”

Changbin closed the door and now had a plate of leftover kimchi fried rice in his hands.

(Seungmin always complained when leftovers were put away in open recipients. That was the reason Hyunjin recently bought so many different-sized Tupperware, but when Felix asked he said that he impulsively did it because they were colorful and cute.)

“I think it’s better if _you_ tell me that, instead,” Changbin said with a hint of humor. “Aren’t you two pretty much living together now?”

Hyunjin shrugged in a try to look nonchalant but Changbin probably saw right through him, if the amused look he gave was anything to go by. He popped the plate in the microwave.

On the back of Hyunjin’s mind, he registered that the fried rice had been left in the open for maybe a week now. He thought about commenting on it but ended up sticking to the subject in hand.

“I meant like,” Hyunjin struggled to find the right words but Changbin was very patient as he waited, and that was much appreciated. “I kinda know Seungmin, but I was curious about what kind of person you see him as or what kind of friend he is to you.”

Changbin looked thoughtful as he watched his food spin under the orange light. After ten seconds (Hyunjin was looking at the timer on the microwave) he finally replied.

“He’s changed a lot these days.”

“Changed? How?”

Now it was Changbin’s turn to think about what to say but, unfortunately, Hyunjin wasn’t nearly as patient. He made ushering motions with his hand, which Changbin unconsciously copied as he continued thinking. The microwave beeped but Changbin didn’t make any move to take his food out.

“He’s always been… very detached. I’ve always found it odd how robotic he was but he wasn’t a bad dude so I just came to accept him as he was. Like, he was there, talking to you and all, but he always looked like he wanted to be somewhere else. He was never rude or unpleasant, though, so I'll give him that.”

Hyunjin didn’t say anything as he listened on.

If he hadn’t known the context of that conversation, he would think Changbin was talking about someone else, and not about his sweet and caring Seungmin (since when did Hyunjin start calling Seungmin his?). However, thinking deeper about it, some things now started to make sense — some specific behaviors Seungmin used to have or still had until now.

“I said all that," Changbin continued, "but after seeing each other every day you kinda get attached, you know? Seungmin is distant but he’s also easy to care about. It’s probably his face. He’s cute.”

“His voice also helps,” Hyunjin supplied and Changbin nodded.

“Yeah, that too. It’s very soothing. So, Jeongin and I never paid it much mind. Maybe he was just socially awkward or heavily traumatized, who knew? Also, weirdos befriend weirdos, so who were we to judge.”

Hyunjin laughed at that and Changbin smiled back.

“But as I said, he’s been different lately. He’s way less guarded around us. Like, he doesn’t look like he’s always trying to spot some lie in everything we say anymore. Oh, and he’s a lot more smiley too.”

It was obvious Changbin wanted to get somewhere with this, so Hyunjin waited. Changbin was also waiting for Hyunjin to reach the conclusion by himself, but since Hyunjin couldn’t figure out what it was they just stared at each other for a few seconds. Changbin broke the silence.

“Seungmin started changing after meeting you.”

Hyunjin felt the shift in the mood. Changbin was no longer telling a story, gossiping about his friend. He had this voice where he showed he was trying to make Hyunjin realize something. It was a familiar feeling. Woojin and Minho had also been doing that a lot lately, while Jisung just rolled his eyes in exasperation and Chan looked on with something akin to pity.

Hyunjin was plenty aware he was largely missing the point, but he was doing that on purpose.

Changbin sighed heavily. Hyunjin felt a little bad for being so frustrating to his kind hyung.

“I’m not saying you should confront him about it or whatever.” Changbin turned away to take his rice out of the microwave. “I just thought you should know. It was a good change, you know, so… You two have nice chemistry, you get along well. I don’t know, I don’t think you should waste it.”

They locked eyes again.

“Stop overthinking it,” Changbin deadpanned and Hyunjin startled.

“I wasn’t overthinking anything,” Hyunjin said, wondering if he was that easy to read or if Changbin was just really good at it.

“Of course you were. I could hear you all the way from here. That… jumble you’re creating in your head. There, you’re doing it again. Stop it.”

Hyunjin pouted but kept quiet. What could he say? Changbin wasn’t wrong.

Changbin took a spoon from the drawer but before he could go back to Jisung and Chan, he stopped next to Hyunjin. His gaze was sympathetic.

“I mean it,” he said. “Stop overthinking it. It’s much more simple than you’re probably making it out to be.”

He messed Hyunjin’s already disheveled hair and left him to his thoughts.

Hyunjin pushed himself off from the counter he was leaning against and went to get himself a cup of water or something. He was moving very slowly, his head a hazy mess. By the time he finally filled the cup with water, Changbin was back, grumbling something about the middle still being cold.

Hyunjin didn’t know what to make of anything he was just told, he needed more time to figure himself out.

He yelled a general goodbye from the front door before he left. He winced as his voice echoed loudly in the outside corridor. Felix and Jisung absent-mindedly responded before he shut the door and left.

Hyunjin wasn’t going back to his apartment yet: Seungmin could be there and he wanted some time alone, so maybe he could take a walk around a park or something.

Hyunjin forgot his cap when he left. Lucky him that the sun wasn’t that strong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Take a shot for every time I say "movie night"  
> And yes, I did a piss poor job of separating the chapters, what about it?
> 
> I'll try to update the chapter 10 as soon as I can! Sorry for taking so long. Thank you for reading!


	10. Open Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hyunjin runs away, but what's meant to be together always get back together.

Somehow Hyunjin managed to avoid talking to Seungmin for an entire week, even though they were living in the same house and sleeping on the same bed. He probably only pulled that off due to sheer determination because it was tough and very emotionally draining to deliberately ignore Seungmin.

Hyunjin was somehow always too distracted to talk or listen, always going somewhere, always somehow unavailable. He did that because he needed to think but still stayed close enough to Seungmin because he would get too sad otherwise.

Hyunjin was just a confused walking paradox, but he was trying his best.

He was a little afraid that Seungmin would get fed up with his attitude and just up and leave. However, pushing aside his paranoia, that probably didn’t even cross Seungmin’s mind.

Seungmin didn’t press him to talk, accepting it all as Hyunjin needing some time for himself. He still made several attempts to chat, or left the television on, or put playlist after playlist on the Bluetooth speakers — all to keep the air in the apartment from getting stalled.

Everything about this week served to help Hyunjin in concluding: yes, of _course_ he liked Seungmin. That much was evident to anyone who stayed five minutes in the same room as them. Hyunjin wouldn’t go as far as say it was love, though. Not yet. But the word didn’t make him scared anymore, so that was progress.

And no, he wouldn’t be able to stay just friends with Seungmin for the rest of his life. Hyunjin had to at least make an attempt, even if it didn’t end up well, or else he would always have that little regret gnawing at the back of his head. Maybe if he got his heart broken, perhaps then he would accept being only friends. But only under this condition.

He spent a week trying to think.

It was a Sunday night, and Hyunjin was lying in bed, wide awake at 3 AM. He was looking at his ceiling, acutely aware of Seungmin’s warmth.

_I’m gonna wait until he wakes up._

The initial plan was to stay awake and take the first chance to speak to Seungmin. Hyunjin made it through three entire minutes of intensely staring at his unlit light bulb before he slightly changed his plans.

_No. This is gonna take too long. I’m gonna sleep, and I’ll talk to him when I wake up._

Hyunjin turned on his side and tried to get comfortable. He turned and tossed no less than fifteen times before he huffed impatiently.

_That won’t work either._

He looked over at Seungmin next to him, peacefully sleeping.

Seungmin used to wake up every time Hyunjin did as much as breathe a little heavier or move a bit more abruptly. He must have gotten used to having someone next to him because now he only woke up when he was fully rested or when Hyunjin was having another one of his nightmares.

After a whole minute of pondering, Hyunjin gently shook Seungmin’s shoulder.

It was cute to watch as Seungmin slowly blinked himself awake, face puffy, registering his surroundings. He tried to focus his eyes on Hyunjin.

“What’s wrong?” Seungmin asked worriedly, voice slurred with sleep. “You look anxious.”

“I need to talk to you.”

Seungmin needed a moment to assimilate it properly, but then he nodded. He slowly sat up, using his arms as leverage. Hyunjin followed the movement.

“I wanted to talk to you too,” Seungmin said.

Hyunjin felt his determination suddenly giving place to anxiety. What could Seungmin possibly want to talk to him? Did it involve work? Or maybe Hyunjin’s behavior these past days upset him? Or maybe he said something wrong?

(Maybe Seungmin found someone else?)

All the thoughts running through his head left Hyunjin frozen in his spot. Seungmin, who was waiting for Hyunjin to say whatever he needed to say, frowned at the silence. Seungmin put a light hand over Hyunjin’s.

“Are you okay?” Seungmin talked as if he was afraid of startling him.

Hyunjin swallowed past the knot closing up his throat.

“You...” he managed to get out. “You go first.”

“What? No, _you_ talk first. Yours seem more urgent.”

“I’m nervous. Very.” A pause. “Nervous, I mean. I’m very nervous.”

Hyunjin wondered where the hell his eloquence went. He breathed deeply before speaking again.

“Just go first, please.”

Seungmin nodded understandingly, their hands still on top of each other. Hyunjin hoped Seungmin couldn’t hear his thundering heart.

“Okay,” Seungmin said and offered a smile to help ease Hyunjin’s nerves. “I’ve been thinking lately… About us, you know? I really enjoy being with you. Your company makes me happy. And thanks to you, I’m slowly learning to be a better person each day. So I wanted to know if you wanted to take _us_ a step further? I’m not saying we should become boyfriends right away,” Seungmin quickly added when Hyunjin’s expression didn’t change. “Just… maybe…”

Seungmin lost trail of what he was saying, suddenly looking nervous. He messed his hair with his hand, stalling for time so he could think about what to say. Hyunjin absentmindedly noted how handsome he looked doing that.

“Jinnie, would you consider being in a relationship with me?”

It was very obvious from the very beginning where Seungmin was trying to lead the conversation, but somehow Hyunjin was still frozen in place. His brain was working at three miles per hour at most — tiredness featuring constant anxiety wasn’t a productive match — and he just blue screened somewhere after Seungmin said he had been thinking about _them_. 

He was embarrassed to ask Seungmin to repeat such a heartfelt speech. The shame of blanking out, combined with the expectant look Seungmin was giving him (which was slowly dropping further due to the silence, _which_ made Hyunjin feel like the worst person alive) made Hyunjin freak out on the spot.

Hyunjin let go of Seungmin’s hands as if they burned him and jumped out of bed. Seungmin stayed where he was, just watching Hyunjin run around. Hyunjin took a random jacket that was hanging on a chair and hastily put it on.

“I need to think,” Hyunjin remembered to throw over his shoulder before he ran out.

Hyunjin was wearing shorts plus a cotton shirt combo, under a jacket that probably belonged to Jeongin, and house slippers. He looked far from presentable but the weather had been warming up later, so thankfully there was no need for thicker garments.

He was almost down the block when it finally sunk in that he ran out on Seungmin’s confession. His stomach closed in on itself, and he started feeling like absolute shit.

He _could_ go back and cuddle again in the warm bed and all. But of course he _wouldn’t_. He was way too embarrassed to even look at Seungmin at this point.

Hyunjin was a moron. And maybe a massive coward. Mostly a moron.

* * *

Seungmin felt a little crestfallen, although the sequence of events honestly wasn’t all that unexpected. It was clear Hyunjin had some serious issues revolving romantic relationships, and so Seungmin had been expecting some kind of over-the-top reaction from the start. Hyunjin was a huge drama queen, after all. 

Hyunjin _did_ overreact a lot this time and Jisung would surely make a lot of fun of him and be very annoying for that, so he wouldn’t seek shelter at Minsung’s. And it couldn’t be Jeongin or Changbin since no one at The Agency was allowed to house anyone without having to report it back. So, Hyunjin would probably stay at The Aussies’ place until he decided to come back.

Seungmin understood Hyunjin needed space to process the idea. And time. So for as long as it was necessary, he wouldn’t bother Hyunjin at all.

He had work to occupy his head in the meantime, at home and the HQ, and on top of that he managed to snatch two field missions. Seungmin sometimes texted only so the boy knew he hadn’t been forgotten, but as expected, he never got any replies. Seungmin wasn’t that worried: Hyunjin was with his friends, and he could take care of himself.

It turns out Seungmin had been wrong about one thing, which he found out on a Friday while he was working extra hours at the HQ. He had been gathering data, along with Changbin.

Felix texted him a few times, but he didn’t immediately notice since he was busy. Seungmin was in a talking mood, so he decided to call.

 _“Hey, Minnie,”_ Felix greeted cheerfully, albeit in a whisper.

“Hey, what did you want to talk to me about?” Seungmin answered and continued copying paragraphs onto an open docs file.

_“Could you tell Jinnie hyung to pick up his phone? I need to talk to him.”_

Seungmin stopped mid-click, brain processing the information.

“What do you mean?”

_“I’m currently following a target, but some things happened and I need his help. Why? Isn’t he at home?”_

“Isn’t he staying over at yours?”

Felix felt the hesitant shift in Seungmin’s tone, deep voice instinctively following the change.

_“I’m not sure. I’ve been in Daegu for five days now.”_

Seungmin made a distressed sound in the back of his throat.

“He hasn’t been home in three weeks.”

A pause.

_“Shit. Okay, Minnie, I’ll-”_

Felix cut himself off, and suddenly got very quiet. Seungmin held his breath and waited for Felix to either say something or hang up. After no less than two minutes, Felix’s voice sounded again.

_“Sorry about that, some people were coming by and I had to move places. I would call Chris hyung, but I really can’t right now. I’m already risking a lot as it is. So do that and ask him, he probably knows something. Text me if I can help with anything.”_

And he hung up.

Seungmin saved his docs file before standing up.

“Are you already finished?” a voice asked from behind.

Woojin was walking by at that very moment. He seemed content, with a tablet in his hands and ready to give more work to Seungmin, but he stopped when he saw the tense line of Seungmin’s eyebrows. Changbin also noticed from the desk in front of him, and their expressions immediately fell into a frown.

“What’s wrong?” Changbin asked.

“I need to go.”

“Do you need a ride?” Woojin offered.

“I’ll be fine. You guys finish what you have to do. I’ll come back tomorrow morning and finish my part. Thank you, though.”

Seungmin smiled in gratitude to both of them, then shoved everything in his pockets and waved goodbye.

Instead of waiting for the bus, Seungmin called an Uber. On his way, he called Chan, not patient enough to wait two hours for the man to reply to his texts.

_“Seungminnie! Good thing you called, I was about to-”_

“Is it about Hyunjin or Felix?”

_“What? No, it was about your Netflix password. What happened to them?”_

“So you don’t know where Hyunjin is?”

_“I’ll ask around. How long he’s been missing?”_

Seungmin appreciated the way Chan could quickly recognize a serious situation.

“Twenty days now.”

_“Okay. And what about Felix?”_

“Some unexpected things happened. He needs help, but he can’t call right now.”

_“I’m gonna try to talk to him.”_

“Thanks, hyung.”

_“Of course. I’ll tell you if I find anything.”_

“Kay. Bye.”

In the past, Seungmin would have avoided the most asking Chan for help. Seungmin used to be creeped out by him and his weird omnipresence and all, but the more he interacted and got to know him, the more he realized Chan wasn’t all that creepy.

Yes, he still knew a lot about things he wasn’t really supposed to, but he was also really caring and understanding. He wasn’t a machine or some entity. He just was an awfully observant guy with some really good connections. And although Chan always remembered to collect favors from his contacts, with his friends, he always helped without asking for anything in return.

Thinking back, the reason why Seungmin managed to open his heart like that was because of Hyunjin. It was maybe the pure way he showed his emotions, or how he held the people he trusted close to his heart and loved them so deeply.

Whatever it was, it eventually got Seungmin self-reflecting a lot.

It sounded nice, having some kind of connection with other people, trusting that someone would have your back if you needed it. He found he wanted to have what Hyunjin had, feel what he felt. It was a struggle in the beginning since he had become used to closing himself off for so many years.

Solitude was routine. Comfortable.

Seungmin had to force himself a little to see the world and the people in a different way, but he thinks it was worth it. The feeling was warm. It was secure and stable.

Seungmin could see why Hyunjin liked it so much.

Seungmin paid the Uber with cash and, like usual, waited for it to go away before walking the rest of the way to Hyunjin’s apartment. He knew Hyunjin most probably wouldn’t be back yet, but he had to make sure.

He was taking a quick look around the empty place when Chan called him again.

_“I take it he’s not back home yet?”_

_Of course_ Chan knew Seungmin would check there. It didn’t bother him anymore, though.

“No, I just looked around.”

 _“I see,”_ Chan sighed in worry. _“Jinnie is very hard to find when he doesn’t want to. I had to call in some favors, but still the only thing I got is from two days ago. He was seen at 8 AM entering the airport at Incheon. He was wearing a blue shirt, some old jeans, had a black beanie on, and was covering his face with a mask. He had a grey bag on him too. Nothing else.”_

“Okay… I think we can work with that. I’ll ask Jeongin to help me.”

Seungmin couldn’t see, but he knew Chan was smiling on the other side of the line.

_“Okay. I’ll try to contact Felix now. Don’t forget to update me.”_

“Alright. Oh, and hyung?”

_“Yeah?”_

“My password is 090715.”

Chan took a second to answer, probably having momentarily forgotten what he first needed.

 _“Oh, thanks,”_ he said, amused. _“It’s Day6’s debut date, right? A bit predictable, though.”_

“It’s Netflix, not a bank account.”

Chan laughed and hung up again.

* * *

It was already late, but Jeongin immediately answered when Seungmin texted him. They settled to meet at the HQ the next morning.

When Seungmin arrived, Jeongin barely greeted him before diving into the issue at hand. Seungmin glanced worriedly at the six energy drinks on the table, but Jeongin didn’t let him speak.

“I came here as soon as we talked. I spent the entire night looking around. I searched on the surveillance footage, and it was fucking frustrating because I took way longer than usual to find him. You see here?”

Jeongin was talking very fast, and Seungmin didn’t immediately realize Jeongin was pointing at the central screen of his Baby.

In the video, Seungmin could see that Hyunjin had stopped near the door to look at his phone. Jeongin played an exact moment where a small crowd walked by Hyunjin. All of them were wearing blue shirts with the logo of some local church. They had big bags on them, some also carrying signs with motivational messages, as well as some other props. Hyunjin started walking alongside them and blended himself in.

“After that, I kinda lost track of him because everyone is moving around a lot, and he was right behind this stupid flag most of the time. Now look here, you see he disappeared? Had to rewind many times to see, but he entered the bathroom at some point. I had to find this one guy that left the bathroom but didn’t come in. And here he is, in a suit. He even gelled his hair back.”

“Did you find what flight he got on?” Seungmin asked, leaning over the desk.

“Yup. He went to Jeju Island. I also tracked him to the hotel he’s staying in.”

“He wouldn’t go that far just to avoid me, would he?”

Jeongin side-eyed him.

“Why?” he asked suspiciously. “What did you do?”

“I’ll explain it later,” Seungmin sighed. “He’s probably there on a job, right?”

“I think so. By the way you called _me_ at almost midnight for this, I can imagine he didn’t tell anyone about it.”

“As far as I know.”

They spent some time talking about whether Seungmin should take Changbin along or not, but since Hyunjin was so intent on being anonymous, the best thing was to go by himself and make as little noise as possible. Jeongin would just give a hand in finding him. After that, it would be all Seungmin’s choice about the course of action. He knew Hyunjin’s work better, after all.

“And also you’re the cause of all this, fix it yourself,” Jeongin added, to which Seungmin pinched him on the sides for and got a squeal back.

“Changbin hyung,” Seungmin called.

His voice wasn’t too loud, since Changbin was sitting only a few desks away.

“Hm?” Changbin hummed back, focused on some papers he had on his hands.

“Could you do my part of the research? I didn’t leave much unfinished, it’s just-”

“Already did. Yesterday.”

Changbin gave him a thumbs up.

“Hyung is one step ahead,” Changbin said, proud to have caught Seungmin by surprise.

“Nosy,” Jeongin chimed in. Changbin frowned.

“You’re the last person I wanna hear that from.”

Jeongin showed his tongue to Changbin like a total brat, and Changbin made a motion to throw the papers he had in his hand at him. In the end he didn’t throw them — they seemed important. Changbin just huffed and sank back into his chair to go back to reading.

“Thanks, hyung,” Seungmin said, smiling.

Changbin tried to look cool by waving it off but smiled as well.

* * *

The next day, Seungmin was checking in a two-star hotel in Jeju Island, three doors away from Hyunjin’s room. It was a little past lunch, and Jeongin said he didn’t see Hyunjin come out for the entire day. That concerned Seungmin a little.

Seungmin had to remind himself that this wasn’t routine, and maybe Hyunjin was just tired from whatever he had been up to the previous day.

Instead of just knocking in Hyunjin’s door and ultimately jeopardizing the boy’s plans for this job, Seungmin decided to do what he used to do before. He would just hover around Hyunjin’s scene to affirm his presence to him, and offer assistance if needed.

Mostly after they became closer, Changbin teased Seungmin endlessly about his approach method with Hyunjin. He said Seungmin was trying to stop being creepy by _still_ being creepy, but in a different place.

Changbin described the whole thing as a ‘really fucking awkward flirting stage’ and found it even funnier when it somehow _worked_. Maybe for Changbin, Seungmin’s life was a badly written soap opera between two weirdos. And Seungmin wouldn’t lie, the notion was a bit funny, and it made him laugh when he first thought of it.

Seungmin was still concerned about Hyunjin skipping on breakfast, though — and probably lunch as well. Seungmin bought some takeout before heading to the hotel. If for some reason they didn’t meet on that same day, Seungmin would just eat the food for dinner and treat Hyunjin when as soon as he could, no biggie.

Jeongin had things of his own to finish back in Seoul and he already did more than enough to help, so Seungmin didn’t bother him anymore and went to do some research.

The Agency had gifted him an encrypted laptop when he first started, and he almost always carried it around. Seungmin was thankful for the item. It was way better than anything he could buy with his own money, and it had a pretty good internet connection by satellite. That meant he could just use it for his college assignments as well, even on the occasion when he was in the middle of nowhere.

Seungmin noted down the facts he had:

1\. The target was in Jeju Island.

It didn’t take any genius to figure that out, but even obvious information was important.

2\. Hyunjin had been frequenting a country club for the past week.

Jeongin found this information by following around the fake ID Hyunjin presented at the hotel.

3\. Hyunjin wasn’t paying for his entrance at the club.

It could mean a lot of things, but seeing the status of the hotel Hyunjin was staying at, he could assume Hyunjin was probably playing sugar baby for someone.

4\. Kwang Jaesung was the man paying for him.

That information was easy to obtain: he just had to check what other IDs were registered at the same time Hyunjin checked in at the country club.

Kwang Jaesung wasn’t anything too spectacular, as Seungmin found after some research. He was a high middle-class lawyer but had nothing too shady under his name. He liked playing golf, and going out to drink with his richer colleagues to get under the illusion he was some kind of millionaire. Typical.

The only thing about him was that he was married with two kids.

With such an uninteresting background, Seungmin couldn’t imagine a very risky reason for Hyunjin to be there. He deduced that Jaesung’s wife suspected he was a cheater and hired Hyunjin to get some proof. Or something like that.

If he were correct in his assumptions, it would mean Hyunjin probably carried around some kind of camera whenever he met Kwang Jaesung to record what happened.

Tracking down Jaesung’s credit card, Seungmin found that he rented a yacht. And that wasn’t the first time he did that either — every odd month he would rent it for a day or so. Seungmin snorted. Jaesung would go to great lengths to indulge his hobby of paying boys half his age to make him company.

Seungmin had to admit he wasn’t as efficient as Jeongin in this, but he still got the task done which is what actually matters in the end. He streched his back and looked out at the sunset.

Seungmin had two days to prepare.

He perked his ears. Hyunjin’s door continued silent.

He would have takeout japchae for dinner, then.

* * *

After waiting around for the two days, Seungmin finally got moving. During this time, Hyunjin didn’t go out of his room even once, until it was time to leave to go meet Jaesung. It made it simpler to keep tabs on his location.

The yacht was easy to spot, right by the beach. Seungmin waited, hidden behind a bush, until a guy walked by. He was clearly staff, judging by his uniform. And the tag on his chest said he was a waiter. Perfect.

Seungmin knocked him out and locked him up in a bathroom by the sand. Someone would get him out in the morning. Probably.

Wearing the guy’s clothes was quick, and soon he was on board and the yacht started heading to open sea. Seungmin waited for Jaesung’s signal to emerge from the kitchen with two colorful drinks on a tray, and he handed it to them with a very plastic smile plastered on his face.

Hyunjin got so startled when he saw Seungmin that he drank the glass he was just given in one go. It served to mask his reaction. He had time to properly gather himself back up and slip again into his role.

His actions earned an amused remark from Jaesung, which Hyunjin pretended not to listen. Seungmin politely offered a napkin to dry up the alcohol that dripped down Hyunjin’s chin to his neck. Before Hyunjin could answer, Jaesung had already latched his mouth on his skin to catch the drops.

As the two moved around on the cushioned white seats, the light caught on the very small camera disguised as an earring. Seungmin took care to keep his face out of the frame as he took the empty glass back.

Seungmin kept an ear out for any signs of discomfort coming from the boy as he went to get a bucket of ice for the drinks. After deeming the situation under Hyunjin’s control, he left them by themselves.

Looking at them now, Seungmin was reminded of a thought he had for a long time. He had been wondering for weeks if he had a cuckold fetish or something, but it wasn’t that he felt pleasure from seeing Hyunjin with other people, not really. This was work, which Seungmin knew from long, late-night talks that were seen by Hyunjin himself with a lot of indifference.

However, if Seungmin happened to catch Hyunjin getting handsy with someone else just for the sake of having fun, then he would most probably feel very bothered by it. It was a very thin line, but one that Seungmin was willing to walk on.

The enjoyment Hyunjin was showing at that moment, under Jaesung’s body, was carefully crafted. And Seungmin out of all people knew that.

These loud, pornographic moans were nothing compared to the whiny whimpers Seungmin was allowed to hear. There were no full-body shivers like when Seungmin delivered harsh slaps to his thighs and buttcheeks. Or like when Seungmin pulled his hair by big handfuls like Hyunjin liked. Or like when he left deep hickeys along Hyunjin’s throat.

There was no teasing from Hyunjin’s part and no teary eyes from when he was edged back. There was also no soft talking after they were done — no playful, wet smooches on the cheek, no cuddling until they fell asleep.

Seungmin went to chat with the only other staff on board, which was the man that was driving the yacht. Seungmin saw the way he kept eyeing the action when Hyunjin was getting entangled with Jaesung on the upper floor and didn’t want anyone getting in Hyunjin’s way, so he had to keep him a little busy. The annoying thing was that Seungmin had to keep steering the conversation in a different direction whenever the man commented about the noises coming from outside the cabin.

After the fifth time the man attempted to talk about it and got another step closer, Seungmin then realized he was no doubt used to this kind of thing, and probably also got off on sexing up college-aged boys if the sly look he was giving Seungmin was anything to go by.

Seungmin glanced at the tan mark on the man’s finger where the wedding ring should be, and casually asked for how long he had been married, sweet smile on. That, coupled with a warning look, made the man back away and awkwardly laugh the question off.

_That should keep him in check._

For the rest of the day, Seungmin alternated between making drinks for himself and making some for Jaesung and Hyunjin.

It was well into the night when they got back to the beach. Jaesung said something about lamenting not having time to take Hyunjin out to eat, as it was his wife’s birthday and he had to be back earlier.

Seungmin took his time to clean the tables, just to exchange a brief look with Hyunjin as Jaesung got off the yacht. Hyunjin didn’t seem to acknowledge it but Seungmin knew very well the _adjusting-shirt-by-the-shoulders_ sign — he often used it with Felix and Minho. It meant a simple ‘okay’.

Hyunjin refused a ride back when Jaesung offered, saying his hotel was near the beach. He watched Jaesung go inside his car and drive away. After a minute, he also walked in the same direction and disappeared after the turn.

Seungmin had to stay behind to finish cleaning up, but soon followed Hyunjin’s path. And there he was, nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot as he waited.

Seungmin missed Hyunjin a lot these past weeks and really wanted to just woop him into a hug and inhale his scent for as long as he could. He knew that was far from the best moment to do that though, so he settled for a smile. Hyunjin’s shoulders dropped in relief as he answered with a smile of his own.

Now he was wearing an awful, bright-colored shirt he wouldn’t be caught dead wearing had he not been working. Before, though, he had spent the day in nothing but very short swim briefs. Hyunjin had a nice body, so he looked really good in a swimsuit.

Hyunjin’s relaxed expression didn’t give much away, but it was safe to assume the swim briefs were uncomfortable, seeing he had to keep pulling it back into place whenever he did as much as sitting down or standing up. Seungmin imagined he would normally wear longer shorts to go swimming. Hyunjin had a good sense of fashion, but he wasn’t fond of giving up on comfort for style.

Seungmin made a mental note to go to the beach with Hyunjin sometime, maybe also invite the other guys — it would be fun to sunbathe all day and play around in the water.

They started their walk back to the hotel. Hyunjin didn’t even question going to the same direction, probably having already imagined they were booked in the same place — they knew each other well, after all. Seungmin could smell expensive sunscreen on him, and he briefly wondered if Hyunjin would get freckles on his shoulders from spending so much time under the sun.

They were close enough that their hands brushed against each other. Even though Hyunjin did some extensive running away for the past weeks, he probably missed Seungmin too, as he didn’t pull away. After some minutes spent on silence, Hyunjin decided to speak.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, looking at the ground.

Seungmin expected him to only start talking after they reached the hotel, but he assumed the deserted street they were at also offered some decent privacy.

“It’s okay,” Seungmin hummed back.

“No, stop saying that.”

Hyunjin stopped walking, so Seungmin did too. They stared at each other in the eye for the first time in a surprisingly long time.

Seungmin liked all of Hyunjin’s looks but this determined one was particularly nice. He just wished it wasn’t so tinted with anguish.

“Stop saying it’s all okay,” Hyunjin said, voice calm but sad.

Seungmin recognized the start of an overflow of deeply mulled-over thoughts and kept his mouth shut.

“You might not be angry at me but I am at myself. And I mean it when I say I’m sorry for not treating you the best recently, you didn’t deserve the cold shoulder. And you didn’t deserve me running away. I wanna stop running from this. From _us_.”

Hyunjin took a deep breath, probably to calm his heart, and Seungmin resisted the urge to reach out and take his hand. Hyunjin’s voice got even quieter when he continued.

“To be honest, it scares me. A lot. But I also trust you.” He raised his eyes again and Seungmin felt emotional, both at the words and at the look he was given. “I don’t know what made you want to be in a relationship with me, but I decided to stop questioning and take this chance. You might not give me another and I wouldn’t be able to live if I lost you just because I behaved like a coward.”

Seungmin tried to stop the smile that was forming on his face. He didn’t try very hard.

“You mean…” he started, feeling giddy. “You mean you’re saying yes?”

Hyunjin rolled his eyes, but his own face was starting to break into a grin. Hyunjin’s posture was more relaxed now, as if whatever had been plaguing his mind for the past weeks had been placated. 

“Of course I am. How else do you want me to say it?”

The smile grew wider on both their faces. Hyunjin turned to the sky.

“I like you!” he yelled unexpectedly. “I like you a lot, Kim Seungmin! I-”

Hyunjin was interrupted by the softest kiss Seungmin could manage.

Seungmin tried to convey all his emotions into it, mostly how happy he was. The happiness to see him, the happiness to finally have Hyunjin back in his arms — the happiness that the person he liked the most accepted to be with him.

And there it was again: that comforting feeling, crawling up his chest and overwhelming him with warm joy.

For some time they just enjoyed each other’s embrace. Seungmin shortly pulled away, just to touch their foreheads together and look into Hyunjin’s eyes.

“I would give you as many chances as you wanted,” he said sincerely.

Hyunjin’s eyes started tearing up almost immediately. He tried to say something, but he ended up pulled Seungmin back by the neck for another kiss. This time it went past the press of lips, mouths moving and tongues caressing each other, and still no less soft than the last kiss. They pulled each other closer, trying to savor the moment more.

At some point, they broke the contact again, breathing a little off. Seungmin smiled fondly when he saw the tears that made their way down Hyunjin’s cheeks and unhurriedly wiped them away. Hyunjin leaned into the touch.

“I like you so much,” Seungmin whispered.

“I like you more,” Hyunjin replied, teasing.

Seungmin laughed, open, throwing his head back.

“ _I_ obviously like you more,” he said. “I was the one who flew all the way here just to see you.”

“Oh? So that’s how we’re playing? Okay, so what about me, that left the last piece of pudding for you last time?”

“Please, you just did that because you got cake on that same day.”

“I did that purely out of generosity. You clearly misunderstand me. I’m offended.”

Their little banter continued as they walked the rest of the way hand in hand, lightly swinging their arms together. Hyunjin insisted on a shower as soon as they arrived and Seungmin hopped in together.

Hyunjin asked if Seungmin wanted to fuck in the shower, but one look at Hyunjin’s tired posture made Seungmin shake his head.

“Tomorrow,” he said, and pressed a kiss to Hyunjin’s lips.

It didn’t take long, after drying themselves off, to get back to kissing and eventually fall on the bed. Hyunjin nodded off to sleep in a few minutes, with a murmur of _‘tomorrow’_.

Seungmin lightly kissed Hyunjin’s knuckles before getting comfortable himself. Now that Hyunjin gave him permission, if it depended on him he wouldn’t let the boy out of his life ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I used both Hyunjin and Seungmin's POVs in one chapter but it was kinda needed. Hope it didn't confuse anyone.  
> I also felt this conclusion was a little hurried, but it was the best I could to. Hope you enjoyed it, though.  
> Again, thank you so much for the kudos, comments, subscriptions, everything! I get so happy knowing people are enjoying this work.
> 
> See you all very soon for the last chapter!


	11. Seasons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungmin never thought he would describe his life as homey. There he was, though. And there was nothing he would do different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2021 is here and I decided to come back too!
> 
> I had a breakdown mid last year, so I kinda stopped everything I was doing, including writing. To be honest, I wasn't sure I would ever manage to finish this fic, so I marked it as finished in any case. It saddened me, because I hold this story very dear to me. It's my first long shot and the first thing I wrote in many, many years.
> 
> I was brought back here by a comment saying they missed me and wanted to know the ending. It made me reread all the kind and supporting comments I've been receiving throughout this story. From lengthy comments that were true emotional rollercoasters, to short but as equally sweet words of encouragement. All of you motivated me to keep this story going.
> 
> I'll admit. I teared up a little.
> 
> So here I am! It was a bit of a struggle to gather my thoughts and tune back to writing, but I didn't wanna leave this forever unfinished. This chapter is pretty much a slice of life so we can picture how their life became after the main plot.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this ride as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope we can see each other again on another fanfic! Thank you, again.

They decided to break out the news to their friends on the next Movie Night, following the Yacht Mission

The gathering happened more because of habit rather than actual scheduling, since the last Movie Night had been awkward to say the least. Everyone could feel the weird, cold tension between Seungmin and Hyunjin, with Hyunjin lying down in a very sad ball the furthest away from Seungmin's spot, as Seungmin stole concerned glances at the boy. Then, right after, Hyunjin disappeared from the face of the Earth and not much later so did Seungmin.

Seungmin and Hyunjin were purposefully the last ones to arrive, this time. They knew their friends had been worried at their previous predicament, so Seungmin suggested surprising them with ice cream as an apology. They did their best to open the front door to Minsung's place while simultaneously holding six bags from the convenience store and each other's hands, but all they managed was to slam the ice cream on the door while fumbling with the keys.

The noise inside had quieted down at the loud bang. Hyunjin had the half decency to look embarrassed as he let go of Seungmin's hand to unlock the door with the spare key Jisung kept in the flower pot by the door.

One would think people in their line of work would be more attentive to house security, but Jisung always huffed whenever they pointed it out.

"The most valuable thing anyone could steal from here is our slippers," he once said with a dismissive wave.

Chan frowned at his nonchalance.

"Sung," he said gravely, "the worst that can happen is a murder attempt. Not thievery."

At that, Minho smiled in a sinisterly sweet manner, glint in his eyes. Felix shuddered from where he was tucked into Changbin's side. Seungmin raised his eyebrows, amused.

"I'd like to see anyone try," Minho sing-sang, smile widening. "It would be fun."

Hyunjin shook his head disapprovingly.

"These two are a terrible influence to each other," he muttered and popped a strawberry in his mouth.

Everyday Seungmin liked to remember the appalled expression on Chan's face, just to laugh a little. Hyunjin affectionately rolled his eyes every time.

Jisung still kept his spare key on the flower pot.

They clumsily walked past the doorway, accidentally swinging the bags on each other's legs at least three times before finally closing the door again. Hyunjin turned around to see Changbin by the kitchen door, with a purple and yellow flowery apron, ready to throw a big knife at their heads. Hyunjin recoiled a step.

The tension on Changbin's shoulders alleviated when he realized who it was. Then he snorted.

"Can't imagine how you two haven't been killed yet," he said humorously, entering the kitchen again.

Hyunjin laughed awkwardly, then accompanied Seungmin as the other shuffled inside to place the bags on the table. He looked around and saw everyone else scattered around the living room, in various states of alert but slowly relaxing again.

Hyunjin took a look at the blankets still folded and at the mattress still up on the wall. Usually they were the first things they laid out, even before getting food ready. He could only assume that with Seungmin gone for two days and Hyunjin for twenty more, they weren't very sure whether the two would come or not.

They were stalling to see if the two of them would show up.

He suddenly felt very emotional.

No one really said anything too interesting until dinner came around. Felix excitedly brought out his PSP to show Seungmin his new game while Hyunjin lied down with his head on Chan's legs, stomach growling as Woojin and Changbin finished cooking.

Hyunjin waited until everyone settled around the table, beverages up and plates filled. He shakily opened his mouth, but stopped. He didn't know why he was so nervous. Seungmin gave him an encouraging squeeze on the knee. At this point everyone had already paused to look at him, attentive. He took a deep breath before trying again.

"We're dating," he said very quickly.

A second.

And another.

"Okay."

The answer came from Felix. No one looked particularly caught off guard. They weren't unpleased, just unsurprised.

Hyunjin felt mildly offended at the response.

Jisung was the only one who stared in surprise, stopping in the middle of spooning curry into his mouth.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "I thought you had been dating for like, months now?"

Minho pinched him on the side. Jisung squealed and slapped his arm.

"Don't be insensitive," Minho scolded, but couldn't keep the humor out of his voice. "They clearly had a hard time coming around."

"We're happy for you two," Chan hurried to assure. "We just… kinda knew? That it would happen sooner or later."

"You two were being such slowpokes," Jeongin teased. "I knew it would be later than sooner."

Hyunjin wanted to throw a potato at him, but Seungmin held his arm in time. Minho huffed a low 'weaklings' before spoon-catapulting his own potato at Jeongin. As expected, the potato spilled curry everywhere on its path before it hit Jeongin in the forehead.

The table erupted in yells about recently washed shirts and taking another shower, consequently overwhelming Jeongin's indignant squeal. Minho revelled in the chaos, leaning back with a satisfied grin. Jisung snorted, promptly sending rice down the wrong pipe.

It took some minutes before everyone calmed down and went back to eating, albeit some were still glaring at Minho. It was blissfully silent for a total of thirty seconds, before Jeongin piped up again.

"We could watch The Exorcist today, like a bonding exercise."

Changbin pushed him off his chair.

Seungmin giggled at the display. Hyunjin turned his head from Jeongin and Changbin bickering and took some moments to look at Seungmin's profile. Hyunjin took in how soft his features were, almost glowing, as if there wasn't any other place where he could possibly be happier.

It was nice to be home.

* * *

Winter eventually came around once more, the already naked trees slowly freezing over the dropping temperatures.

Their routine remained pretty much the same. They had already been sleeping in the same bed for some time — as well as having almost all meals together, having sex regularly, and everything. The only new things were more kisses randomly given and sweet exchanges after they fucked. And they got each other fancy jewelry too.

Hyunjin wanted matching rings, but Seungmin talked him around it and convinced him it would be hard to hide it in missions. They ended up getting matching earrings instead. It was hard work to convince Seungmin to pierce his ears, but after three days and four blowjobs, Seungmin finally caved.

And where Seungmin had been previously freeloading on Hyunjin’s place as an impromptu guest, now he officially moved in and was still freeloading but as a boyfriend. Seungmin felt a little bad for this, and even if Hyunjin insisted he didn’t really care, Seungmin started to pay for their groceries to alleviate his mind.

Hyunjin had been a little hesitant that maybe their relationship could fade away with time, as he heard it often happens. It didn’t happen with Minho and Jisung, who were going strong for years now, but he wasn’t sure if they were the rule or the exception. To be safe, Hyunjin decided to wait for the worst to happen. If it didn’t, then all the better.

The worst didn’t even come close to happening. God bless his paranoia.

For how chaotic both Seungmin and Hyunjin were, their relationship was very stable. They didn’t often disagree on things since they had already been living pretty much together, but when it happened one of them (usually Seungmin, but it depended) always stepped down and tried to talk rationally before it could evolve into a fight.

Seungmin was a sweetheart, through and throughout. He still had traces of the composed and calculating person he's always been — that was never a habit, it’s just who he was —, but gone were the walls he built around himself. Hyunjin was so proud of him. He knew how hard it was to overcome these things.

They say when people spend too much time together, they start to take on each other’s habits. Like Seungmin getting used to drinking his coffee with milk, because Hyunjin never remembered to bring him plain black and just got the same thing for the both of them. Or arranging their shoes according to color on their doorsteps, like Seungmin used to do at his place. Or leaving used cups on the right side of the sink. Or squeezing toothpaste from the end instead of the middle.

In their cases, it also happened with work. Seungmin seemed to have liked their spontaneous and lawless way of working because he started to apply it to his jobs at The Agency as well. He mostly does whatever he wants and for some reason Woojin lets him get away with it every time.

This influence probably came from the fact that Seungmin still accompanied Hyunjin to all his missions, even if he was never given tasks other than to watch the perimeter. More than once Hyunjin expressed how guilty he felt that Seungmin was being burdened with mundane tasks like those, but Seungmin reassured that he liked taking care of Hyunjin, even if he was perfectly capable of doing so himself.

"You're never a burden to me," Seungmin ended before cutely pecking his cheek.

Hyunjin stopped whining.

It became such a habit for Seungmin to accompany Hyunjin that he automatically tagged along even on short trips, such as to the grocery store. It should be boring, having a routine like that. Seungmin always thought it would be. Now, though, he could feel nothing but bliss.

Also, Hyunjin was the kind of person to never let it get boring.

For example, it was another day, a random one, and they were walking back home with bags full of fresh-scented shampoos and milk cartons.

Felix recently convinced them to start using ecobags instead of plastic ones, and they may or may not have gotten too excited when buying them, so now they have a variety of twelve matching sets of colorful ecobags. At that moment, they were sporting the bright blue Nemo one.

The sun was setting and they were walking slowly, appreciating the breeze blowing by. It felt cold, a little biting to the fingertips, but it was nice nonetheless. Suddenly, Hyunjin stopped walking. Seungmin looked on curiously as Hyunjin briefly searched in the pockets of his jogger pants.

Hyunjin looked slightly flustered when he raised his head again. It surprised Seungmin, but he patiently waited for his boyfriend to explain.

"I was procrastinating giving this back to you," Hyunjin sheepishly said. "But it's been such a long time already that I'm feeling bad for keeping it until now."

Seungmin looked at the object being offered to him. It was a black handkerchief, embroidered at the seams with a line of deep red. It took him a few moments to catch on, but when he did, he looked up at Hyunjin with raised eyebrows.

"I can't believe you still have it," he mused, watching as pink filled Hyunjin's cheeks.

"I washed it right after and I thought about giving it back, but..."

"But?"

"It brings me luck. I found a food coupon in the street on the same day you gave me this, so I decided to keep it a little longer."

Hyunjin looked so serious while saying that, Seungmin couldn't help but find it adorable. Hyunjin really has the habit to overthink the most random things.

"Keep it then," Seungmin smiled.

Seungmin was originally feeling soft, but he had to hold back from laughing at the absolutely affronted look he received.

"You have no idea how long I've been mentally preparing for this. You  _ will _ take this back."

Seungmin pretended to think a little, then shook his head.

"I don't wanna. Didn't you clean your shoes with them? Nah."

Hyunjin's mouth fell agape and he started waving the handkerchief around.

"You were the one who told me to clean them!"

"Oh, so now you go around getting  _ other guys' _ blood in  _ my _ stuff? Unbelievable. You really can't trust men, they're all the same."

Hyunjin scoffed, offense giving place to barely concealed laughter. He tried shoving the handkerchief in Seungmin's hoodie. Seungmin dodged out of the way. Hyunjin started following his movements, and soon they were both running around the trees with Hyunjin on the chase.

Seungmin chose a particularly big tree to run around and Hyunjin followed suit. Seungmin stopped running and turned around. It would have been a violent bump if he hadn't cushioned the movement by holding onto Hyunjin's shoulders, which quickly turned into a hug.

They were both still laughing as they pressed their bodies together, creating warmth in the midst of the chilly wind. They only looked at each other again after their breaths evened out.

Seungmin looked into his eyes — the eyes that intrigued him so much in the beginning, full of mysteries and concealed intentions, now stared back at him with raw delight. They were teary from laughing, shiny when they fixed themselves on Seungmin's own eyes. Seungmin mapped out the stars in his gaze and decided that whatever constellation they formed, it would forever be his favorite.

Hyunjin raised his head to give Seungmin a tender kiss on the forehead, then buried his face on his shoulder to properly enjoy the warm hug. They spent some minutes like that, only basking in each other's smells and listening to the white noise around.

"Do you think Felix and Jisung already destroyed everything in our house?" Seungmin quietly asked.

Hyunjin huffed, voice muffled.

"Bold of you to think we still have a house."

They laughed at that, but disentangled from the hug and continued their way home in more rushed steps.

* * *

It was well into spring.

There were butterflies fluttering around and bees getting into soda cans. Pollen was everywhere, Changbin was dying of allergies, moths were trying to invade his home every night and geese were starting to repopulate the parks.

Hyunjin still loved spring because it was when he could see colorful blossoms all around the city, all else be damned.

Some months before, Hyunjin and Seungmin were thinking about adopting a pet, but it could be troublesome if they had a long mission and had to be away for an extended period of time. That was why they decided to swarm their living room with potted plants.

There's no need to worry about the emotional spectrum of a plant, you just call someone in to water them in case you're absent, and they'll be fine. And in the spring, most of their flowers bloomed beautifully, making their living room look more lively than ever.

So screw moths and geese and Changbin's rhinitis. Georgina, Mimi, Jin and Grace were fully opened and too busy being gorgeous to care.

Hyunjin woke up a little before 8 AM — waking up early being one of the habits he picked from Seungmin. Seungmin was going to return from this quick job in Suwon near lunchtime, so Hyunjin had plenty of time to water his plants and do some yoga before.

He was thinking about reheating the leftover noodles from last night as he finished getting dressed, when he realized there were people talking in his living room. He didn't have time to tense up, as he easily recognized Chan's and Jisung's voices, hushed and quiet.

Hyunjin smiled to himself, then stepped out in the living room. As he expected, his friends were lying around on his couch and fluffy carpet, either cuddling each other or sprawled out, snoring softly. Chan and Jisung were the only ones awake, and even they looked like they just aroused from slumber. Jisung turned a lazy smile at Hyunjin when he entered, turning only his face from where it was almost shoved into the pillow.

Sometimes when Minho and Jisung wanted to vary the scenery, they went to sleep over. For some reason, whenever that happened everyone else would follow suit. The result was that more often than not, Hyunjin and Seungmin would wake up to at least five men taking up space somewhere in their house.

(Once they found Jeongin sleeping behind their washing machine. Jeongin always looks strangely mortified whenever anyone mentions it, and never gave any explanations about what happened.)

Throughout the morning, as Hyunjin continued with his usual routine, one by one everyone eventually woke up. Some hoarded the cereal they had on the cupboard, others went out to buy food. It was a lazy morning and it was rightfully treated as so — a miraculous off day.

By the time Seungmin arrived, it had turned into an impromptu Movie Evening. Minho, by himself, proclaimed it was his turn to choose the movie. So, after a hearty lunch full of greasy chicken, they all gathered together to watch Barbie Princess Adventure.

The movie wasn't bad, just plain unfunny — no matter how hard Minho laughed all by himself, his sense of humor had always been weird —, but Hyunjin wouldn't be able to describe a more perfect day even if he tried.

Right there, safely in his boyfriend's embrace as Seungmin distractedly caressed his hair, his heart was full of love. Hyunjin felt content.


End file.
